Hello hello, and welcome to Episode 50 of Life On the Brink!
Before we get into today’s topic, I just want to wish each of you reading or listening to this a bit of comfort today. It’s been a hard week, both in the world and for my family personally, and as we journey through the last days of winter, I hope you are able to rest, recharge, and be re-inspired today. I’d also like to encourage us all to not be so hard on ourselves this week, and to offer kindness to others.
With that said, go ahead and make yourself a cup of tea and let’s get started.
What’s in my teacup? Ahmad Tea Company’s cardamom tea.
And now, let’s find our sense of adventure….
I don’t know about you, but during the winter time, once the freshness of the New Year has waned, I find myself looking to warmer days and often thinking of faraway destinations. Winter is my planning time where I daydream of potential trips to be taken in the coming year, so lately I’ve been thinking a lot about travel and how it has affected my life.
I never really identified myself as an adventurous person until quite recently. I think it’s because I always saw myself more as a steady, calm, routine-oriented person, and sometimes those qualities are seen as the antithesis of a carefree, adventurous spirit. This is by no means the case, though! We can be all of those things, and today I’m encouraging myself and everyone listening to embrace their sense of adventure, though it will look different for each one of us.
Merriam-Webster defines adventurous thus:
1 a: disposed to seek adventure or to cope with the new and unknown
an adventurous explorer
b: INNOVATIVE
an adventurous artistic style
2: characterized by unknown dangers and risks
an adventurous journey
While at first I might not identify with a lifestyle of constantly incurring danger, the fact is that life is full of risk, often risks that we can’t see. I would say that embracing adventure is simply to embrace the “new and unknown,” wherever you are. Certainly travel is a fantastic way to jump into the unknown in a beautiful way, so first I’ll share some ways to incorporate more travel into your life. Then we’ll talk a little bit about how to embrace adventure even at home.
HOW TO MAKE TRAVEL A PART OF YOUR LIFE:
1. Know where you want to go. There’s a big world out there, and it’s impossible to see everything, so when there’s opportunity to travel, it’s nice to know what really draws you. Maybe you watch a particular movie over and over because the setting is so beautiful to you, or you’re learning to speak a certain language, or you’re interested in a certain culture. I recommend making a wish list of destinations or maybe a Pinterest board with places you can dream of visiting. *here’s mine*
2. Make a budget. I feel like money is often the main concern when it comes to travel, and rightly so. I think Wheel of Fortune and the like have rather warped our idea of how much travel costs when it’s not an all-inclusive luxury stay. Traveling, even internationally, is much more affordable than I thought it was when I was growing up, or even as a young adult. It depends on how you like to travel, of course, but it’s definitely not out of your reach.
If there’s a trip you’re trying to take this year or perhaps next year, make a plan to set aside a certain amount of your paycheck per month to go toward that trip. Maybe it means cutting back on little splurges here and there, but thinking about that trip all year will make it all worth it. Another way to save is to have a travel account that you constantly feed into, whether or not you have a trip in mind.
3. Actually do the research. It sounds silly to suggest, but I’ve seen many people in different destinations that truly don’t know how much that location has to offer. While there’s nothing wrong with jumping in blind, or enjoying an all-inclusive resort, I think the adventure part of travel comes from exploring your destination a bit more, and pre-planning a bit or researching beforehand can go so far. A few ways to do this:
-listen to podcasts about traveling to wherever you’re going (they exist!)
-check out some travel blogs and Youtube channels
-if you know anyone who has been there, ask for recommendations!
-in 2022, it’s a good idea to look into the ever-changing Covid restrictions and regulations of your destination.
*a note: of course, some of the best moments of exploring come from your own spontaneity and might not be in any online guide. It’s just nice to get your bearings, plus it helps build the excitement for your upcoming trip.*
4. Take advantage of long-distance friendships. If you have friends or family around the world, chances are they would love the chance to show you to some of their favorite spots in their town, or even let you stay with them! You never know until you ask.
5. Keep a log of your trips. Whether you write in your journal each day of your trip, or perhaps have a dedicated travel journal, recording the special moments that happen during these excursions are wonderful for reminiscing. That way you get to enjoy the anticipation, the trip itself, and the memory of it in detail.
6. Invest in souvenirs that add to your home. I don’t go crazy with the shopping while I’m on vacation but what I do bring home I make sure is something I’ll actually use and can become a part of my life. Every time I use them I get a sweet memory attached.
7. Give yourself a day or two to decompress. After a vacation, especially one with a long return trip, I think it’s so vital to have a day carved out of your schedule to unwind and reset before going back to normal life. Not only for things like laundry and cleaning up, this time is also good for reminiscing and decompressing after the change of pace. It also leaves a nice, rather than a stressful, impression of travel in your memory so you’re more likely to do it again.
The joy of travel as it pertains to adventure is that it’s a change from the norm. While this podcast often focuses on enjoying the day-to-day of our “normal” lives, experiencing something completely different, as is the case when exploring a new place, can be so refreshing. When traveling, I think it’s lovely to lean in to the unknown and simply enjoy the change. It also opens your eyes to other ways of living, other “norms.”
That being said, here’s a few ways to embrace adventure and the unknown from home:
1. Explore your city. I’ve lived in the same town for 15 years and I’m still finding places that I’ve literally never heard of. Sometimes I think it’s fun to look up travel blogs from places in Virginia and pretend to be a tourist here. There’s always new things, to try, and you don’t have to go far to experience them.
2. Don’t underestimate the long weekend. You don’t have to travel far away to get away, and short, local trips are so budget-friendly. Even if it’s just for the weekend, exploring a different city within driving distance is still a refreshing change of pace, but involves much less preparation.
3. Play host. This is a bit of a reversal, but if you have the opportunity to host someone else that doesn’t know your town, or perhaps simply to show around someone who has recently moved there, it’s so fun! I really love showing off my hometown to newcomers, and it helps me fall back in love with my own home.
A few final words…
More than anything, I hope this podcast will help dispel some of the intimidation that comes along with travel. For a long time I thought I wanted to move away from Virginia and travel a lot for my job; I thought it was one or the other: either being stuck in one place or becoming a world traveler. The fact is, there are so many other options in between those two extremes. I love that I’ve put down my own roots with Josh at home near both sides of our family, but we’ve made travel a priority in our finances and our schedule so that we can hopefully explore all over the world and still have a sweet place to come home to.
Also, it’s become clear in the past few years that anything can truly happen, and we can’t account for everything that could go wrong, but that can’t stop us from adventuring out and experiencing the world. My advice is to do your research and then just do it. Even if everything doesn’t turn out as you expect, the good far outweighs the bad when it comes to travel.
*I recommend watching Morgan Long's videos on her recent trip to Brazil. She talks a lot about this (and everything really did go wrong). *
As we are able to see, feel, taste, and experience more of the world outside of our home, we begin to understand other people a bit more and, I believe, become more compassionate to those that live differently from ourselves. It only increases our curiosity, and we become stronger, more resilient, and more adventurous.
So, my friend: be safe, have courage, and bon voyage!
This Week’s Little Joys (two of them!):
1. Actually it’s travel related! I spent the weekend with Josh and his family at a little house in Westmoreland and after a day of exploring historic houses, we went back to the house and I cuddled up on the couch with a mug of chamomile tea and a cozy book. It was divine. I ended up falling asleep while reading and just let myself enjoy those couple hours without any obligations whatsoever.
2. An Instagram account: Paula Sutton at @hillhousevintage. She’s a home interior writer who lives in a stunning 19th century Georgian home in Norfolk, England with her husband and 3 kids (and a puppy). It gives me all the spring cottage vibes, not to mention a heightened longing to visit England. Also, she recently released a book called “Hill House Living: the art of creating a joyful life” which I will definitely need to get my hands on. Enjoy!
What I’m Listening To: Rather than the winter blues, I’m linking my playlist called Winter Bossa. I’ve revamped it and added a few more fun tunes that will help lift you a little until the start of spring, cause Brazilian music is just like that.
Thank you to everyone who has tuned in over the course of these 50 episodes. I so appreciate all your lovely comments and your reviews (If you haven’t taken the time yet, a review on Apple Podcasts would mean so much!), and look forward to rounding out season 2 this spring.
Until next time, friends, have a lovely week!