Hard truths underneath
a layer of beauty
Living in a city, a country and a continent with not only tons of cultural differences but also a million contradictions easily leaves me dumbfounded. I mean, at least I am still struck in awe every single time I see a Tesla driving next to a moped running on a lawn mower engine which is somehow electrified. Not sure if your OCD ticker would go mayhem in that situation but mine, at least, skyrockets.
Honestly, take the guy on the picture on the right. We were just having a nice and quiet day in the national park when all of a sudden this person skied down on his skeelers. If this would happen to you without batting an eye, you might have to read the definition of skiing again. The one that contains the word “snow” in it anyways.
But then again, it strikes me how biased we are and how we tend to think that everything we do is ‘normal’. Though, from the moment someone else does it differently, he must be the one doing it wrong And it are these biases that are being exposed in every single conversation and every corner you turn. That is one of the lovely aspects of travelling. Where you learn to understand that a prejudice is easily disposable but a bias, on the other hand, is hard to bypass.
A couple years back, when I started all this, I was all about the beauty of travel and how it develops you. But the actual truth is not in the beauty, it is in the amount of times you bumped your head against walls, and some of them were really ugly too. And even after all those years of travel, Shanghai still manages to support my curiosity in finding and facing those biases. These are things that can simply not be learned from reading books or being the best student in school. These are the ones, one should experience before even hoping to comprehend it.
So all of this really gets me going and I am keen on travelling for the next couple of years. However, I am also aware it comes with a cost. In short, processing everything, going through the hassle, having extreme long days for months in a row, reflecting and actually understanding the bigger picture are few of the hard things that I, and I am sure other travellers as well, go through every single time. And that’s what it makes it all worth it. It’s not just something we will ever take for granted, it is something that we create ourselves and no one, but simple not anyone has a say in it. And those are the 2 sides of this coin in a nutshell.
It truly is both amazing and helpful to be in the exact same position as other “backpackers” you meet during these travels. We open up quickly to one another because of having the same understandings. Therefore, we have a more profound connection, though, it is hard knowing that these couple of days, weeks or sometimes even months come to an end. It really is something, meeting with so many people and actually connecting with them without the social mask or anything. Just a genuine me and you and him, all in the same place having some proper banter without having to talk about minor issues that society tries to throw in our faces. Actually living in the moment and genuinely building towards your future.
That is what travelling does to me, and I am not only grateful for it, but also willing to continue facing the confrontations. It makes life worth more than the mindless monopoly we think we need. And with that being said, “It IS Better To Travel Well Than To Arrive”.
Satisfaction has been taken for granted through the ease of living
FRED´S WORLD TRAVELS 
“We open up quickly to one another because of having the same understandings. Therefore, we have a more profound connection, though, it is hard knowing that these couple of days, weeks or sometimes even months come to an end. It really is something, meeting with so many people and actually connecting with them without the social mask or anything.”
My comment on this- Yes, you learn this beautiful type of human connection, this way to bond with people so quickly, through travelling, through being in a new place where everyone is vulnerable, and where everyone understands that others are only looking for the same thing that they are looking for themselves…. our times when we are most vulnerable are the times where we are able to connect best with others….. vulnerability is the prerequisite for connection…. but this is something that you can not only learn from travelling, but also maintain for the rest of your life. Even if you have not yet “arrived”, or are not even currently in a state of “travelling well”… Once you begin to appreciate this mentality, I think you can and should try to maintain it always in life. It doesn’t need to be exclusive to travelling. So, if you think of it in this way, it never has to come to an end! Because you still can constantly meet people and establish with them this dynamic that you love, regardless of the context. It is about the manner in which you approach relationships. As life moves on and time goes by faster, there is less and less time (and less and less energy ;P ) to wear social masks. Let’s keep the energy that we love about travelling, present in our lives even if we’re not travelling.
Great blog posts!
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You got me bowled over with this one, to be honest. You are definitely right! This kind of genuine connection and being true to others, even if one is in his comfort zone, is something we should all strive for in the end. And it might even get easier once we get older and appreciate proper relationships without overthinking our social lifestyle.
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