Jillian’s August Post: Buck Convention, Celebrate Your Individuality

Travel provides prime opportunities to act differently. The moment you travel, you have broken your pattern, your routine, left your quotidian; and, in the process, pried open a gate to other possible departures.

So on a future journey, experiment with a less predictable way of being. Do you usually follow? Try leading for a while. Do you typically race to see everything on a quick trip in a new area? How about slowing down to live more in the moment on your next journey? Step outside your normal behavior. It might just remind you that it is okay to move beyond boundaries we often create in our everyday lives.

Out of Africa author Isak Dinesen suggested in her letters: determine what is essential to you. Is it freedom? Family? Art? Political ideals?

You can look to your travels for clues. Blixen discovered freedom was key to her. Others have found friendship or family as essentials on the road. Look in your journeys for signs of yourself and, when you discover landmarks, return to them.

What truth can you discover about yourself on your next journey?