I mean of course people have been doing it ever since mankind was created but lately I feel like it is annoying that it is blown way out of proportion. Like, it's amazing and all, go ahead and do it but no need to be super duper proud and braggy about it. Sure i guess people are excited to share good things, amazing things that they felt are worth sharing, perhaps sincerely wishing others would experience the same overwhelming experience, but on most part, it can be very confusing to the general public.
To me it looks like a marketing of TRAVELLING ALONE = SOUL SEARCHING/FINDING YOURSELF
Im sure there a lot of things you can discover and learn while travelling, especially in desperate moments of being alone, to be creative and think up of ways to survive, to get through shit that might pop out of nowhere, to be street-wise.
but then what?
You come back home and then what?
some throwbacks and basking in old gloriness of I once did that and it was amazing. Indeed it was nobody's denying you, but it's NOT soul-searching.
Ok. To be honest I'm so blessed to have the opportunity to study in Europe, to have the money and time and proximity to travel independently, planning on our own, experiencing different type of travelling styles with different types of people. I also admit that because of those experiences that I know and realise that I don't need travelling to find what i want in life.
I can find what I want in life in me. In my bedroom. Driving in my car. Being alone in crowded places. You just have to have enough maturity to do so. And to reach that I guess, you need to be hit by a certain type or amount of difficulty/suffering in life to really finally sit back and ponder what you want in life.
I mean.. It's totally up to you whether you want to venture into those thoughts or self development or not, it's really not for everybody but I don't think the thought of travelling= achievement in life is good. Travelling is a tool. It's not a solution.
People will start thinking they NEED to travel to find a solution when there are so many other tools one can utilise.
They'll say, travelling alone exposes you to seeing more people, forces you to make friends with people from other countries, forces you to come out of your comfort zone. I say, does it really go far, this friendship? beyond facebook friends and a few hi's for a year and occasional likes and comments? It seems superficial to me. I don't like superficial attachments. It's nice to have, but it doesn't make a difference.
I dont know, just materialising my thoughts. It has been a while. To be honest though, I'd really like to travel again soon. I miss the planning, the unexpected hurdles, shitty things that will always happen at least once at each travel and figuring out a way around them. I miss getting new experiences, seeing new places, basking in new environments.
To me what makes travelling gold and ageless are the memories, and memories are best when shared. That is why, I shall never want to discover a new place all by myself unless I absolutely know what I'm doing. Just because I feel like the memory is very fragile if kept by oneself. That's why I'm very picky nowadays when travelling. I've had experience doing random travles with people i barely know, you can expect the experience fades pretty quickly, i barely talk to those people anymore.
Germany 2012. Rarely revisited but awesome travel still :P
1 girl, 3 guys, 4 car museums -__-
