You might be thinking, what the hell is this guy talking about? He's ranting and raving about his travel blog and all I'm getting is crappy life advice and not-so-witty captions. I want to clarify, humble and wholesome reader, this is a travel blog! However, there are some really important points that one must address when making such a huge change as to live the 'Travel Lifestyle'. One of these is to find your true purpose. What your purpose is exactly doesn't matter. What matters is that day in, day out, you are pursuing a life that you want to live. In finding this answer, you are led towards that magical fairy dust known as Happiness, which then opens the door to a world you never knew existed, a world in which you can travel with a sense of purpose. Whether your goal is to become an Aerospace Engineer, a Chef, a Fashion Designer or a type two Harrier Jet with Rocket Propulsion and Extendable Flaps, understanding what that is and chasing it with every fibre of your being changes your perspective completely. No one travelling the world is truly fulfilled if, on return home, they're returning to a job they hate, with people they don't like, that pays crappy wages. Say your dream is to be a chef. You work your ass off all day in the kitchen, slaving over the stove and dealing with that particular dick of a Head Cook. It may be hard, it may be tiring, but you are learning and growing and under all of that surface crap, you are thriving. You best believe that when you escape for the weekends to explore the sun-kissed beaches of Croatia, or the historic old town of Prague, you will enjoy it to the full extent in which it is able to be enjoyed. Even if chasing your dream sucks at times, when you take your breaks, you are fulfilled, and therefore much more capable of living in the moment. Don't get me wrong, if you work a 40 hour a week office job for a company you despise, you will still enjoy your time away. You will crave it, and can even become obsessed with having a good time. You know that obsession to "make the most of this time away as it will soon end and I will be thrust back to reality as a washer/dryer salesman in the arse end of butt fuck nowhere". Side note: if your purpose is to be a washer/dryer salesman, great! Just don't do it in the arse end of butt fuck nowhere. "I will not let that email ruin my holiday". "I've earned this time off, I can't wait to leave my laptop at home". "Oh man, I'm really not looking forward to being back in the office on Monday". Sound familiar? Of course it does! Now switching off is good, especially when on holiday. But the key here is to switch off for the right reasons. You want to switch off because you've hit that target you've been working so damn hard to hit for the last 6 months. You want to switch off because you have finally grown your business to a point where it becomes profitable. You want to switch off because your painting finally sold at auction and you've broken through that impenetrable wall of making your first sale. Switch off positively, not negatively. Believe you me, intelligent and attractive reader, the bliss you feel on that Costa Rican beach is multiplied tenfold when it is backed by success in the pursuit of your dreams. It is at this point you can truly experience Happiness, and I promise you, there is no feeling like it. Since the dawn of time, the human race has lived in eternal existentialism. As far back as we can trace, we have asked ourselves: "Why am I here?" and similarly: "What is my purpose?". These questions are that which we all grapple with on a daily basis, and this can cause quite some distress as we try to figure out what it is that we want to do with our lives. This is especially rife amongst the young people of today, but includes my parents generation, and I believe that it is down to one key fact: As a generation, we aren't given a purpose. Let me explain what I mean. The previous generations were given a purpose. Our grandparents were thrust into war, as were their parents before them. Prior to that, you'd be lucky if you had enough to feed yourself, let alone your family. Humankind has suffered extraordinarily since the very beginning, and simply put, that kept them busy. Fast forward to the modern day and most of us, especially in the Western world, have everything we could ever need practically on tap. We have access to education, to food and water and to a whole plethora of possible routes to follow to become whatever it is that we could possibly hope to be. Herein lies the problem. We are so fortunate in the wide array of pursuits that we may pursue, that we often struggle to pick one. There's thousands of degrees, apprenticeships, internships and career paths and this, I believe, swamps our mind and clouds our vision around what our true passions are. A very good friend of mine (@arronsans - Instagram) posted a reel with a question that got me thinking. You can find it here. In the video, Arron asks: "If you had a million pounds in the bank, how would you spend your day?". Arron's answer was to write songs, record songs, perform those songs and release those songs, and then repeat the process. Funnily enough, Arron is a musician (and a great one at that), who would've guessed it? Without even having to think, my answer jumped out at me: Travel. If money was no object, I would spend my days cruising the world in search of adventure. This question came to me at a time I really needed it, I was having a hard time, feeling sorry for myself and it felt as if my life was up in the air with no end in sight. This was the answer I have always needed, and ever since I have made it a habit to ask that very question to everyone I meet. It's very easy to misinterpret this question. Ensure you delve deeper into your answer. I actually asked it to a girl on tinder and her answer was to go shopping for clothes. At first you might think, as I did, "That's not the point! The question isn't about the money, it's about the dream!". This is true, to an extent. If you were to pick that example apart, you can extract a purpose. I asked her why it is she would buy clothes. Is it because she likes to look at them? To wear them? To gain inspiration to make them? All of these three examples you can dissect. Do you like to look at clothes? Maybe your dream is to become a fashion critic. Do you like to wear clothes and feel cool? A fashion model. You enjoy making them? A fashion designer. What can first come across as a shallow and easy answer can lead you down a rabbit hole that may just end up with you finding your purpose. I challenge you, relevant and important reader, to ask yourself and as many people as you can the question: "If you had a million pounds in the bank, how would you spend your day?". I'd love to hear your answers so stick them in the comments box! For the record, she stopped replying, and no, I did not get laid. So maybe don't do it on Tinder. Now a point on inspiration. Find inspiration locally!We often find our idols and our inspirations to be somewhat out of reach, being movie stars, rockstars, or the world's richest man (in my case). While these people are, of course, people, they have reached a level to which they have become unrelatable. Don't get me wrong, have your idol. But find your inspiration and build your character from people in your immediate vicinity. I am inspired by every single person I meet. Let me give you an example. (A second to appreciate the amazing people in my life) I am inspired by my awesome brother Will in his dedication and drive towards his goals. I am inspired by my good friend Arron in his creativity and engaging social media posts. I am inspired by the gorgeous Heather in her ferocity and passion. I'm inspired by cheeky wee Cameron in his ability to keep his chin up despite the shit. I'm inspired by my Mum in her ability to love unconditionally. I'm inspired by my cousin's Valentina and Maria to just be their damn selves! And yes, I'm inspired by you, funny and witty reader, in your ability to make it this far into the post! Let me know you made it this far in the comments below! All of these incredible qualities I have picked and chosen and taken away for myself to add to my arsenal. Build yourself from the best qualities of those around you. None of the aforementioned people are perfect, and neither are you or I. They are all human, they all have their worries and fears and bad moments. Don't model yourself after "The perfect guy or girl" as it is unachievable, no one is perfect. Take the bits you love from everyone you know and season yourself with them. If you love those qualities in your friends, it makes sense that if you are built from the same shit you'll love yourself too. Do this with your friends, family, colleagues, whoever! Let me know how it goes below!
It's not easy to find your purpose, but once you have it opens up a thousand doorways, not just in the real world but in your mind too. If your purpose is to travel then you're in the right place my friend. If not, I hope to bring you along for the ride and hopefully join your list of people that inspired you to do what you love. I'm not expecting you to have it all figured out by the end of this post, but I hope that at least you can make a start on your journey. Believe in yourself and believe in your dreams. Who knows, you might just achieve them. All the best, The Lonesome Wanderer P.S. Well done for making it to the end! Thank you for taking the time to read the above post, below you can find 3 quotes and 3 songs that I thought matched the theme of this post nicely. I look forward to hearing your thoughts in the comments below! Quotes:
Song Recommendations:
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AboutThe Lonesome Wanderer is a blog dedicated to all things solo travel, including the philosophical and introspective aspects involved with being on the road alone. More Posts
September 2022
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