We typically go on a trip to escape from a monotonous life and experience something new. Also, we get to find out something different about the world we belong to, such as unfamiliar culture and alien scenery, and record them on film and in our minds. Trips are a powerful tool to give us a new sensation.
However, if you want to feel something new from trips, some techniques are required. As I have my own know-how although not professional, I would like to introduce some travel techniques. it might sound simple, it is worth trying if you have the opportunity.
1. Let go of ‘familiarity’
Everyone has their own habits they feel familiar with throughout their lifetime. Even though they are small things, from dietary habits to pajamas at night, we are stressed without them. It is almost like letting go of the self. It’s that much stress. I have traveled many times in my life and the moments of great realization and maturation came when I laid down the habits I was familiar with.
The moment you miss your mom’s food at River Seine in Paris, you are already away from the beautiful River Seine. Your body is in Paris but your mind is still at home.
If you want to get something new, be brave and let go of your old habits and worn-out conceptions. Then you will be naturally absorbed into whichever country and culture you encounter and therefore learn so many new things.
I often hear that I am good at adapting to new environments no matter where I go. Thanks to my long wandering life, I grasped the ‘letting go’ technique. If you hold onto any kind of memories – even if they are happy and sweet memories – you cannot 100% enjoy the current circumstances. The moment you feel ‘oh, it was very good back then’, you should lay that thought down acknowledging that they are illusions that have already passed by. Then, you’ll start to see so many things that you can enjoy and feel grateful for. Although you don’t have enough water to wash your face, you can feel grateful for the water to drink. Although it is not mom’s food, you can feel grateful for sandwiches you eat sitting on the ground under the Sun. Although it is not your own room that you feel familiar with, you can even feel grateful for a bed on a train. If your mind is open, how could your travel not be so joyful!
2. Let go of ‘plans’
If ‘familiarity’ I just talked about is the past, ‘plans’ are the future. Of course, you cannot travel spontaneously without any plans. However, there is also no guarantee that the schedule you have made would smoothly go as planned. When you face the situations that don’t go according to your plans, you may feel embarrassed or frustrated. But if you change your mind set a little bit, you won’t miss a great opportunity that the world has offered.
While I was traveling south France, I left the accommodation early in the morning and waited for a train for Barcelona. But I found out that there was no train to Barcelona on that day. With my limited French, I read the train timetable incorrectly. I already checked out of the place I was staying and I felt embarrassed that I couldn’t follow through with my plan. So without a plan, I just stepped onto the next train and got off at a random station. The scenery there was one of the most beautiful I have seen. It was so beautiful that it could be ranked within the top three places I’ve traveled.
Moreover, it was complete freedom as I didn’t have any upcoming schedule for the day. I learned such a new sensation comes along when I let go of myself. Your travel would become more fulfilling when you accept the fact that you have to let go of the future to stay in the moment, and thus the frames that were previously in your mind will break easily.
3. Letting go of ‘fear’
I usually travel alone and many people ask me if I feel scared. ‘Would it be ok alone? You are a female.’ ‘I heard that it is a dangerous city.’ ‘What if something happens?’ These sayings are actually vague expressions of fear based on uncertain information and the worries about what has not happened yet. No matter where you travel to, if it were civilization, there are people who already inhabit the area and odds are it will be much safer than expected. And surprisingly, there are many women who travel alone.
What’s important is this: something to be afraid of does not happen to those absent of fear. Then, where does ‘fear’ come from? It originates from the thought that you have something to lose. The root of fear is your attachment to yourself.
How do you let go of the fear? First of all, make yourself ‘the existence that has nothing to lose’. If you pack your luggage with the minimal necessities and with clothes and things that you don’t care about if lose, your body becomes lighter and so does your mind. Also, if you don’t have many things to take care of, your concentration is less likely to be distracted. If your consciousness is clear, the possibility of bad things happening becomes rare too. Everything goes smoothly if you concentrate only on what you have to do, i.e. the present moment. If you focus on every moment like this, you even forget about the desire to learn something from this trip, and consequently, the concept of ‘losing’ disappears completely.
Furthermore, if you let go of the fear of meeting strangers, your trip becomes a hundred times richer. I learned from my solo trips that everyone exists to help one another, not that I live by myself in the world. I still remember so many people who helped me during difficult times as if it was their own problem. Although they had different nationalities, gender and ages, I never forget to appreciate them.
From the ‘solo trip’ which many people are scared of, I learned to have infinite trust for the world. I realized that the world, the universe, exists for me, gives me opportunities all the time, and helps me. I also came to know that such opportunities can be grasped only when I open my mind first to the world.
Ridding of all sorts of the false mind you have and becoming one with the world… wouldn’t it be the real meaning of travel? Wouldn’t it really be a new sensation?
In hope that my simple but powerful travel techniques could help all those who dream for free journey…
