Travel: A Journey to Expanding Horizons
“Certainly, travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living.” ~Miriam Beard
When thinking of billionaire women, living a luxurious lifestyle, you might imagine lots of international travel. In truth, traveling has both upsides and downsides, as most people who travel often can attest to. Spending hours at the airport, lugging heavy baggage, getting lost, and not being able to communicate with the locals, are just some of the problems you might encounter during a trip abroad.
Of course, we all want to escape our day-to-day routines, and explore the rest of the world. So what exactly can you do to make your travel experience a success? How do you make travel more than just a sight-seeing checklist? As with most endeavors it starts with goal setting, planning, learning to let go of the things you can’t control, and just enjoying the journey.
Itching to Travel
“Own only what you can carry with you; know language, know countries, know people. Let your memory be your travel bag.” ~Alexander Solzhenitsyn
- Travel Daydreams: If have been daydreaming about far away destinations, then chances are you have already set some subconscious goals about traveling. Sometimes travel goals are born through conversations with travelers, advertisements, by reading a good novel, or after seeing some mesmerizing photographs.
- Travel Motivation: Sometimes you might not feel a pull to any particular travel location. You might feel extremely comfortable exactly where you live, talking only to people like yourself, living the same experiences as you. However, you should consider that traveling expands your horizons, since it pushes you out of your comfort zone.
- Travel Goalsetting: Do your research before settling on a final travel destination. Stopping by at a local travel agency will give you much of the information that you need to get started. Flipping through a few travel brochures, will give you a feel for the type of vacation you are looking for. Keep in mind that most of these advertisements may be depicting a facade of the location that you will be traveling to.
- South East Asia: My goal to travel to South East Asia began almost 7 years ago. I was attending an international boarding school where it was common for students to make friends with those from other countries. Two of my good friends came from southeast Asia: one of them from Beijing, China, and the other one from Seoul, Korea. At the time, we had promised each other that we would all go back to southeast Asia in 2008. The date 2008 had been chosen because that is when we would all be graduated from University. We didn’t know the Beijing Olympics would be taking place at that time.
Setbacks Are Inevitable
“Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not.” ~Emerson
As with most things in life, there will be obstacles along the road. Keeping in touch with my high school friends kept my goal alive. I met my boyfriend, a native Chinese living in Canada, and we decided to visit his family in China. In 2006, I had the opportunity to travel to China with him. However, for whatever reason, the trip was not meant to be. I was working in New York City at the time, and I wasn’t able to get any vacation time to travel.
Sometimes I think that not going to China in 2006 was a blessing in disguise. Since I am currently set to visit China for 4 months, and it is a much more worthwhile trip than a 2-week excursion. I arrived in China 4 days ago, and already I am in love with the culture, the people, the sights, the history, and the differences in thought. I believe my good experiences stem from a positive mindset.
During most travels, you’re bound to find yourself being challenged. Sometimes you will need to use your imagination to communicate with locals. Other times, you might realize that you desperately need a particular object that you can’t necessarily find abroad. It is always good to keep an open mind, and practice offering your help to others, knowing that someone else will lend a hand when you need it too.
Travel Is More Than a Destination
“Happiness is not a station you arrive at, but a manner of traveling.” ~Margaret Lee Runbeck
In preparation for my 4-month trip to China, I readRolf Potts book Vagabonding. I realized that most of my travel experiences have changed me personally, just like Potts described. Being faced with all the interesting situations that you can get into when you’re traveling internationally really helps build character.
- Expanding Horizons: When you’re traveling, you learn more than just taking pictures at tourist destinations. You get to know a new culture, make new friends, and think a little bit differently. You might learn a new language, eat something exotic, or listen to colorful music. Each of these different inputs help you to understand the world better.
- Empathy & Understanding: If everyone traveled abroad, we would be a lot less likely to enter wars with each other. It’s much easier to go to war with another country when you haven’t marveled at its rich historical heritage and natural beauty, haven’t met the people, and don’t know their culture.
- Your Comfort Zone: Traveling takes you away from your usual environment. It removes everything that you associate with you, leaving only the bare necessities. This makes you think of yourself completely differently. You are no longer defined by the stuff you own, the television shows you watch, or the people you hang out with. You only have yourself, and possibly a few traveling partners. This forces you to reevaluate who you are, and to delve deep inside.
- Independence: Traveling forces you to know that you are enough, that you can be happy without material things. Traveling internationally, with all of the figurative and literal baggage, builds self-esteem.
Returning Home to Find What You Were Looking For
“A person travels the world over in search of what he needs and returns home to find it.” ~George Moore
What I learned from my travels, is that you don’t quite realize how much traveling has changed you, until you return home. As Rolf Potts said in his book, when you return home after a long trip, you will inevitably begin every sentence with “In China…”. Those around you might not understand how you think anymore, because nothing in their life has changed while you were gone. The world keeps turning without you. Except that so much has changed for you, through your travels, and your interaction with the world at large.
As in the book The Alchemist by Paolo Coelho, we often return home to find exactly what we were looking for when we left. The true purpose of travel is to meet ourselves, to enjoy the journey, and to discover our inner purpose. Sometimes the journey can be stressful, but as long as you remember that you are the one who brings the happiness, you will return home fulfilled.
Thank You For Being a Part of Billionaire Woman
I created Billionaire Woman in January of 2008, and it has since grown into something much greater than I first anticipated. I am so grateful to everyone who has subscribed or followed the development of this blog. I thank every one of you for your support, your comments, and your friendship.
Personal Update
I will be blogging about my adventures in China at my personal blog NathalieLussier.com. I will also be posting pictures there, if you want to get a taste for travel in China. I will do my best to continue posting at Billionaire Woman, but the frequency of posts might become a bit unpredictable, and may include some guest posts. I hope you understand, and I’m sure you will realize life itself is more fun when it’s unpredictable!
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