We are always looking for something new, a new place to visit or a new place to live or just a novel new experience. It is the human condition to explore to go over the horizon to see what is there, it’s how we advanced as a people. By nature we are curious as a species craving for new surroundings, new tastes and smells. It seems to start when we are old enough to crawl with mobility comes that wondering. Some of us seem to have a stronger sense of it than others always moving toward something new to experience, in perpetual motion. Industries are built around it to give us an ability to visit new places and see new things. We pick up a magazine, see a video or someone tells us about a place that intrigues us and we start to plan a trip. We book a flight or a cruise and make all the preparations that lead up to the day when we will go on our adventure. The nervous feeling of the unknown about this new place even in the smallest forms are exciting to us. What will it be like, who will we meet, what will the food taste like, how will the place smell, what will the sunset look like, and will we like this new place?
The nervous feeling of the unknown about this new place even in the smallest forms are exciting to us.
This is what it is to travel all of these feelings. Most places we travel to today don’t offer much risk anymore, the risk is all perceived in the fact that the experience is new to us. Once we get to this new place what we find for the most part is the people are the same as us with the same joys and problems and they also have questions about where we came from and what it’s like. On a deep level one of the main reasons why we seem to travel is the people. So why do we do it, why travel in the first place. Well I think one of the reasons, it’s good for us to know that we are all the same, to understand on a deeper level all of us are so much like one another. Once you get past the boarders you find understanding. Knowing that no matter where you go people are the same is an important understanding. So how can we take this understanding and make it part of our day without having to travel half way around the world? To take this understanding that we are all the same on a deep level trying to make today a little better than yesterday for ourselves and the people we have in our circles, the ones we know and care for, family and friends. Think of how many places in your town or city that you have yet to explore. There are probably thousands of people that we could meet and talk with to learn something new from to see something in a new way or have a deeper understanding of. But this requires breaking form our routine and framing things in a new way so we can look at our own backyard as a place worthy of exploration. Well we can start by making our circles of influence larger. By knowing that when you have more people in our circle of influence we have more people to care about and learn from and in return more people who will learn and care for us. Just imagine how many people you could effect by offering a smile, an ear to listen to a problem or a shoulder to carry some of their burden. Then think of all of the joy you could experience by knowing these people the birthday parties, the barbeques, the weddings and the joys of a new birth. So when you leave your home today look at every encounter with another person as an opportunity to meet someone new, to enjoy someone new even if it’s just for a moment in passing.