Closing Thoughts, 23: Travel and how it changed me

Jaisalmer - December 23'

We came back today after a hectic travel of 6 days. In the 6 nights 3 nights we were on train / airport and 3 nights on land. At 53 this is not something I would ideally want to but coordinating between 2 working person and 1 college going family member this is the best we could pull off. It was tough on my health and nerve. But despite the anxiety I managed well and did not have any breakdowns or need a long recovery time. I was up and about the same day.

Mental Preparation is the key and my fundamental principle which I adopted since my first trip to Solan was to ‘Go with the flow’. One of the big learning was that (which applies to life as well but we don’t apply) nothing is in control - the train can be late, the tyre can burst, someone sat on my specs and it broke, hotel turns out to be really bad etc. We just have to make the best of the available options. 

Being Positive - Despite all the negatives, there will also be that glimmer of hope during the day of visiting a fort or looking forward to boating in the lake or a hot water bath on a super winter night in Jaisalmer or a an awesome spread in the breakfast. Being optimistic is the the basis of all decisions otherwise one cannot move forward.

Especially in this vacation I realized the importance of having my own space Early morning exercise routine, meditation, journaling were sacred and helped me to center myself day after day. In travel most decisions are fought and debated and either you just give up or fore your point of view on others. Either way there is lot of suppressed feelings and latent anger which surfaces after a few drinks or after the vacation or even after many years when one looks back at the vacation. Many times i was shocked by the reality of someone's feeling / comment about the vacation although on the surface we all thought it was a lovely vacation.

Do your own thing - Being in a large group, you often tend to merge with the group objective or plan of activities. I discovered having to do your own thing helps you to give more purpose to your travel. One of my friend runs in the morning - wherever he goes, some like shopping, some create nice videos of interesting & I love posting them on my status with some interesting thoughts / story which runs in my mind. Many of my friends n family comment back and when I meet folks they always remember me for these interesting anecdotes. It’s nice when you feel the warmth back and feel connected 

Know your weak points All my preps before the trip is around having backup or contingency plan if something breaks - it can be stomach, sleep, cold n body ache. At my age it’s very difficult to predict so I try my best to be cautious than adventurous. In younger I was the lead provocateur for doing brave things like jumping in sea from a height or try new things or stretch my limits to climb. No more. It took some time to curb the enthusiasm. 

The pivot

Most of this I started applying to my life. Unlike last 5 years when I was reading a lot (Geeta, self help videos, wisdom series etc.) and trying to grasp or look for principles to apply in my life in last 1.5 years I am learning more from observation of self - trying to identifying the root cause. Being data driven helped & I created XL to understand the cause and effect. 

Some thought it’s being fanatic but I thought it was more realist. Happy that to of my biggest weakness was controlled by this - stomach & sleep. Welcome 20 24.