As someone who has been on the road for several years I don’t see travel itself as transformative at least not for me. We all come from different places, have different experiences and how far we are willing and able to go can help shape the journey and open new windows to how we see the world but that by itself isn’t necessarily transformative although it can be for many of us.
No matter who you are getting outside your routine helps you to go which is what life is about. That feeling of transformation usually isn’t a singular moment but a realization that you have changed through your experiences and that doesn’t require travel to do, travel is just such a dramatic jump from your usual normal that it can feel like it.
I have been through many countries but have lived in places, struggled but also been changed, through letting go of what I thought I wanted and realizing that it is OK to want something different. I was never a physical person but doing muay thai transformed what I thought I could do, I never thought as a diabetic that it was realistic, that I would want to get into the ring and get my ass kicked and now I love the thought of training and suffering for that moment when you get into the ring and you can leave it all there win, loose or draw.
I find that if you are open to getting uncomfortable, if you are willing to jump into the deep end, if you embrace the urge to learn in spite of fear or criticism then no matter whether you are 1000 kilometres from home or are down the street taking a class on something you’ve always wanted to learn, you can be transformed.
Travel magnifies that effect, often its the difference between earning that epic view and having it given to you. It means something when you have to struggle for it, or when you find unexpected more than when you drive up to it take your selfie and leave. I love the traveler lifestyle but I am under no illusion that it has to be transformative because so is having a child, or so can starting your own business if you allow it to be that, if you are open to those possibilities then no matter where you are or what you are doing change and transformation are there for all of us, travel or not.
