Motivations For Travel

I guess I’ve always been a wandering spirit at heart. If I stay too long in one place I feel like I’m missing out on something. I’ve always been intrigued by different cultures, foreign places and natural beauty (mountains, countryside, etc.). My first real trip aside of family vacations was when I was 17 and drove to Yellowstone by myself from Houston. I was gone for 2 weeks and camped along the way. Going it alone added an extra dimension that gave me a lot of confidence to do more. After high School I moved to Colorado for four short months before deciding to hike the Appalachian Trail. I then returned to Houston to prepare for the A.T. . I began my hike on March 29 and finished on September 4 of 1985. I honestly feel like I never really got off the trail and often times feel the most settled when I’m on the move.

What I love the most about travel is that I feel like it brings out the best in me. I’m much more flexible and open when I travel. Everyday annoyances and inconvenience are less of an issue and don’t bother me as much. Often adversity turns into an interesting adventure or at least a good story. When on the move I find myself slipping into what I call the flow. The flow happens when you just let life happen and surrender to things outside of your control. Within the flow interesting things transpire. Opportunities open up. You meet cool people that turn you onto this and that which leads to something you would never expect. What is normally considered to be ordinary becomes anything but ordinary. When I’m at home and living within a regular routine life can become kind of dull but when I travel it’s never dull. Well, if it’s ever dull it certainly doesn’t last long. I’ve been on two day bus rides in South America that seemed like no big deal. I’ve arrived in Singapore in the middle of the night with nowhere to stay only to be rescued by an old lady out of nowhere that has THE place for backpackers to stay. I’ve stayed in lovely quiet places for $30 a night right down from a fancy resort that charges $300 a night. While hitch hiking in New Zealand I had a guy drive up and offer me a brand new Subaru to drive up the coast 5 hours away to deliver to a rental car company. It was legit. No scam. I can go on and on about the things that happen when you’re in the flow….. However, I can also tell you about plenty of inconveniences, delayed flights, etc. but in the end amazing things still happen. I absolutely love living in that space. All of this goes without saying that I meet loads of people when I travel. In day to day home life, meeting people can sometimes feel like a chore but on the road it happens so effortlessly. I very much enjoy the people aspect of travel… One thing I must add about the flow is that a loose travel plan is ok but a rigid inflexible plan gets in the way of the flow. For better or for worse I've never be much of a person to adhere to a rigid plan for anything longer than a brief period of time.

My motivations for travel have remained the same over the past 25 years. There are so many places to see. So many experiences to be had. I’ve gotten very good at allotting blocks of time at fairly regular intervals for travel. I work for myself buying and selling old stuff. Mostly collectible. Old records, memorabilia etc. I prefer to work 3 to 4 months at a time then travel a bit before returning to work. When I work, I work. When I travel I travel. The downside is a very modest income and in a lot of ways I sacrifice the fiscal rewards of pursuing a career etc. The major upside is that I have a lot freedom and am 100% debt free. It all depends on how you look at it but I place a lot of value on life experiences. That’s the one thing you can take with you when life is done. I’m currently investigating other means of income to fund my travels. Some people are able to maintain a fairly high income while on the road. It’s just a matter of being creative and finding the right fit for ones interest.

My preferred method of travel abroad is by foot and public transportation. I really enjoy walking/hiking so I generally like to integrate a lot of it into my travels. In North America I’ve logged thousands of miles road tripping mostly because public transportation is quite limited as compared with the rest of the world.

All said, as much as I enjoy traveling I do get tired and like to have a base. It's nice to return to a place that's familiar and to hang out with friends that I've known awhile. Ideally, I would like to arrange my life to where I travel 6 months a year and chill out at a home base for the other 6 months. Something like a 3 months on 3 months off kind of thing. Ok, So that's the goal. Maybe I'll even meet someone along the way that aspires to do the same.....