Here’s the Best and Worst Thing about Traveling + Doss Trento Photo Diary
A few minutes ago, I was watching the videos and vlogs I took while I was in Europe. If you haven’t already known, I have been an exchange student in Trento, Italy for six months. I must say that I had the time of my life there.Well actually, I think that is an understatement.It was more than just the time of my life.I had the chance to be a student of the professor whose books are the resources for our courses back here in the Philippines. I had the opportunity to travel to 12 countries in Europe and try solo traveling for the first time. I met countless new friends who I will treasure forever.And many more.
You see, I was an entirely different person after all those travel and study abroad experiences. Before the student exchange program, I didn’t think I was capable of going places at such a young age (I was 19 at that time). Now that I know I can (and you can, too), there are already so many things I can’t help but yearn for.Through those months, I have come to realize the best and worst thing about traveling. It’s an eye-opener, really, but it’s never close to something I regret to know. In the end, I’ll still do it all over and over again.
The Best and Worst Thing about Traveling
Wanderlust has always been in my blood. Ever since I was young, I get that special thrill when my parents are taking me to new places and getting me to try new things.But I admit traveling hadn’t been something I’ve been doing before my study abroad program. I haven’t even stepped outside my own country before that. My parents did, but me? No.I was always studying and trying to get on with my everyday routine. Once in a while, yes, I do go to other places here in the Philippines to see some sights. I’ve traveled to Baguio, Davao, Boracay, and most of Bicol, Luzon, and the northern part of the Philippines (Pagudpud, Vigan, Cagayan, etc.).Although I’ve considered those as blessings, I honestly think there’s more to life. Now that I’ve seen and learned so much through traveling, I won’t deny that I’m addicted to it.
So here’s the best thing about traveling:
It makes you such a different person.
I know the saying “you never step on the same river twice” because I get it, we are a different person through every single moment of every single day in our lives. Experiences change us. Time itself changes us.But by traveling, you change into a better and more fulfilled person than you can ever think of becoming. You get to see the world in different perspectives because you meet lots of people who come from different places and are exposed to various cultures other than your own.You see life as an outsider because you are able to separate yourself from the normal routine of your life and get to see and do things that are usually taken for granted through new and more exciting ways.As a development communication student myself, I have to say that Marshall McLuhan, communication and social theorist, has a point. We are like golden fishes in our own little aquarium bowls and as such, we can only see and approach things in a perspective of someone who is in that bowl. But from the perspective of someone outside of it, everything is so much more different.The best thing about traveling then is we get to be outside of our limits and expand our horizons.
But then, the worst thing about it, which depends upon your perspective, is:
Traveling makes us different persons who always seek and yearn for more. And we can never take it back.
Now that we had the chance to get out of our limits, we don’t want to be and feel limited again. There is so much out there, we say, as we leave our past lives behind.It’s so much easier to leave and leave and leave and not look back. We come to think that goodbyes aren’t such a difficult thing at all because we already got used to them.But how about the people we left behind? The home we used to have but now turned to something we barely want to be at anymore? The lives we used to have that was once safe and comfortable for us?
The truth is, I don’t know the answer, too.I’m honestly at the same struggle as I am writing this right now.Some people would think it’s just post-exchange depression or some people might judge that I’m the type of person who never gets contented with life.But in my defense, I am happy with the state of my mental health as I am mindful every day. I am also satisfied and grateful for whatever I have right now because that’s the kind of thing you learn from traveling, too – you get to love life more as it is.I think that, in the end, it’s just a matter of dealing with the aquarium that we are inside of, the lives we choose to live. There’s really nothing wrong with the yearning to see more of this amazing world – in fact, there is so much beauty we have yet to see. After all, God has created this world for us to enjoy, love, and nourish.
What are your realizations when you travel, loves? Comment down and share this post if you can relate!
