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To this day my father rings me and asks how my ‘holiday’ is going... I have lived outside of Ireland for almost 5 years. The worst part is, he’s not even messing.
My parents came to visit last week. Like any good son, I activated 'tour-guide' mode. I took some time off, went out for lunch and dinner every night, booked tons of activities during the day—the usually red-carpet treatment for the folks.
When they were leaving, my mother said, 'Jesus, ye two really live the good life.'
It struck me... THEY THINK I DO THIS EVERY WEEK.
But it couldn't be further from the truth.
Before they arrived, I hadn't stepped foot in a single restaurant. Every 'tourist activity' we did was a "first-time' for me as well. Most of my days are just some combination of work, eat, gym, read, TV, sleep.
Now don't get me wrong, I love my life, and I wouldn't trade it for the world, but if you're eyeing up 'nomad life' because you think it's going to be 'like holidays', you're going to be sorely disappointed.
Let me explain.
When I was in my early 20's, I did a lot of backpacking. To this day, it's probably the best decision I ever made. You truly get to know yourself when you're thrown into a new environment.
For 22 years, I had convinced myself I was this shy, introverted kid. Travelling helped me realise this was just a bullshit persona I had created in my head.
Jack Raines sums it up perfectly;
'If you live in the same place around the same group of people for long enough, you start to identify more with your role within that group than with who 'you' are as an individual. It's only by stripping away those outside influences that you can figure out which parts of 'you' were actually 'you.'
When you're in a new environment, removed from any expectations of what you're supposed to be, all that's left is the real, raw 'you.'
Travel was the catalyst I needed to give me the confidence to be my own person, and that unequivocally changed my life for the better.
But I have some issues with the modern travel culture.
Chasing the Thrill
So often, people pursue travel as a solution to the automation of life. But the automation of life is guaranteed over the long term.
Wake up, eat, go to work, come home, eat, shower, gym, watch TV, go to sleep.
Sound familiar?
Somewhere in the depths of all this mundanity, a dangerously broad question emerges… 'There must be more to life than this'?
Fears of life becoming one endless Groundhog Day are amplified by social media taunts of what 'you could be doing'.
It all feeds into this idea convincing you that travel will let you live a 'life less ordinary'.
And to a certain point, travel does exactly that.
But the reality is, over the long term, life is a string of mundane tasks. Even those living an objectively insane lifestyle run a repetitive schedule consisting of work, food and sleep, just like the rest of us.
Every travel blogger you see online has days full of routine and monotony, but it seems exciting and enviable because it's different to the repetition in your life.
Same shit, different continent.
Monotony will always be part of our life. We all have our routines that we settle into. That's not a good or a bad thing; it just is.
Trying to escape it is an exercise in futility.
Sure, the initial rush of travel will be awesome. New experiences and new people will lead to cherished memories, but eventually, your 'new experiences' become your regular experiences, and your life sequences itself into a familiar order.
You'll go to the same 'new' places with the same 'new' people.
New experiences don't stay 'new' forever.
But life doesn't need to be about the relentless pursuit of new experiences. Most of our lives are just a string of normal moments peppered with some extraordinary events. The sooner you accept that, the sooner you can focus on what's really important.
Don't travel to outrun the automation of life; the monotony is a feature, not a bug. Instead, focus on finding joy in all the daily experiences along the way.
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Globally Accepted Procrastination
It feels strange typing this because it seems negative, especially coming from someone who loves travelling and will continue to travel into the future.
All I am trying to say is; make sure you’re not just traveling for ‘travelling’s sake’
If traveling becomes the ultimate goal, you will spend all your time focusing on changing your surroundings while neglecting the pursuit of purpose and meaning in your life.
Visiting every single place on the map for fear of missing something cool isn’t the answer to your problems. Travel should be about creating meaningful experiences not the focal point of your existence.
Traveling opens your mind to endless possibilities and one of those possibilities is that there is more to life than travel.
Find the balance.
This week was a break from the norm, I will be back next week with more investing ideas and market updates.
In the meantime, here are a few more of my recent article if you are interested.
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