“You have a kid now; you’re gonna find a job right?!…”
I kept hearing this and many other cultural and societal beliefs and presumptions. Naturally, they turn into expectations of me because that’s what’s considered to be the right thing to do.
Societal norms are shaping our lives.
In today’s society, it’s hard to escape the behavioral pattern that is expected of us. Before we even realize it, there are all kinds of traps for us to fall into and maybe never escape. From a very early age, we are programmed by parents, schools, employers, marketers, and society to do certain things in a certain way.
Listen to authorities. Obey rules. Buy more to be more.
On the top of that, our “ancient” human brain is trying to establish a safe and comfortable environment by protecting us from danger, operating within a familiar group, and attempting to build up our possessions and status. We can end up feeling trapped in a circle. Life goes by, and stuff accumulates. We become self-imposed slaves to money, status, and people we want to impress.
We can get too comfortable.
People like certainty. Yet, many will find themselves on the edge of retirement, realizing that they have been re-living the same year for several decades. Now, with a new chapter approaching, they can’t imagine their lives without the same old routine. Changing it is scary.
Our contentment is reflected in our unwillingness to get to the unknown.
When we travel, we are suddenly in unknown and potentially uncomfortable environments. Things are different. We don’t understand people. Suddenly, we don’t know how to behave. How to function. Our basic needs may feel compromised, and we feel threatened.
Whether on vacation or traveling long term, our possessions, and connections will weigh on our minds. It’s hard to embark on a journey when you have a house, a job, a car, familiar services available, and a community of friends. And even if we feel the excitement to get to distant exotic places and buy a plane ticket, we often find ourselves disoriented and homesick after only a few days abroad.
The actual change in your environment means more than exploring new places.
I have been very fortunate in my life. I grew up in a loving family. I was a part of a group of ambitious athletic friends. I obtained an excellent education and landed a great corporate job with company cars and apartments. Yet none of it truly satisfied me. None of it brought the honest answers I was searching for in life.
It was through traveling that I started slowly making sense of it all. The act of packing up and going is the start to discovering the unknown. That’s where the original concept of pilgrimage came from.
Looking for God. Looking for truth. Looking for love. It is a search for knowing. It is a search for life’s meaning. This is what travel has ultimately become for me.
Travel equals growth.
So, I ditched my corporate career, and I looked for opportunities that would allow me to grow. The famous quote, “If you’re not growing, you’re dying” from Toby Robins has helped me keep perspective.
One way to grow is through failure, and I’ve had plenty of those. But the other way is growing through inspiration. And inspiration is everywhere around us. We just have to get out of our bubble.
What makes this process easier is the ability to pick up and leave for another adventure. The ability to discover new places and further discover ourselves. That’s where the true freedom lies for me and my family. I can give you countless examples of how we enhanced our freedom through travel, from being around inspiring and positive people, receiving better healthcare, to eating better food and drinking better wine. Most of us have this ability to live in more freedom, but only a few actually act on it.
In everything we do, we try to seek happiness. That is the ultimate goal. Happiness means different things to different people, and obstacles are always in the way.
Knowing how to find the direct path is half of the success. Taking the first step is always intimidating, but knowing how to take the literal step into the unknown is a great start. And as far as being trapped by cultural expectations? We choose the direct alternative, embrace the freedom, and embark on yet another trip- as often as possible.
