As a traveler myself, I want to discuss the time when you really feel that you are ready to pick up and travel. When I say travel, I don’t mean a two week vacation, I am talking more about an extended trip where you leave friends and family for at least 3 months probably longer. People wonder to themselves how would I know that I would want to do that? In the end the answer is subjective, but below are a few thoughts about when the road may be calling to you.
God bless them, but family and friends sometimes can hold an image for you as a person that is pretty solid and doesn’t allow for a lot of change. Human nature is often to comport oneself to fit into the view other have of you. There comes a point though when a person is feeling so different inside that really they have no choice, but to begin to express it. A lot of times a good opportunity to explore alternative selves is to hit the road. If no one knows who you are then you are totally free to be your full self. For me this was the dominant reason that I left my home city of Edmonton to go traveling.
The same city, the same rules, the same people, the same job… into infinitum can grind on a person. For many, these things are a comfort – and that is understandable – but for a person who is getting to the point that they can stand it no longer, they need to shuffle things up, perhaps a trip is in order.
Connecting to the second point is the question of where you fall when it comes to freedom versus security. This isn’t a thought to be taken lightly as security is earned through constant effort, much of which will not be particularly fun. So you have to ask yourself are you willing to forgo the security you have amassed for the excitement of travel? If in a given moment, or better yet, for a sustained period of time you feel that you would be willing to make the trade than the time is right to travel. Remember it takes years to build security up and not long to see it disappear to nothing.