A New Way of Travel

A thought piece on travel, self-discovery and the continual unfolding into a new way of being.

I'm calling for a different way to approach travel and new experiences — with a higher value placed on moving slowly and intentionally, connecting more with the physical reality than the digital reality, prioritising a depth and intimacy with a place and it's people rather than the shallow, detached and extractive perspective that is considered to be the normal approach.

The only way to know a place truly is to immerse yourself in all it has to offer. All of the seasons, all of the polarities of culture and landscape — hectic cities and vast natural expanses, bone-chilling winters and skin-scorching summers, learning from and listening to the elder ones who maintain their rural traditions, as well as the youth who embrace diverse expression and the questioning of paradigms in the modern era. 

In this sense, perhaps travel isn't even the appropriate word. Maybe discovery is more appropriate, a discovery both of self of other. It's more than simply moving from place to place, this is a process of integration — into a new and different way of being. A wilful embrace of the unforeseen and the unknown. Learning about ourselves through learning about others. Revealing a new direction to our personal story through relating to the stories of others. 

When I decided to move to Portugal a couple of years ago, my intentions were more than simply wanting to escape the harsh winter of northern Europe. I was looking for a place to call home, in a way that I hadn't previously found. I've observed that many people I've met while on the road are similarly searching for something, whether out of escapism or a desire for a new way of being. A large reason why I feel so at home here is due to the many people I've met from foreign countries who are on a similar wavelength — a consistent desire to live more simply, in harmony with nature, with a level of self-sufficiency that is relatively uncommon nowadays. There is a certain quality of life that is guaranteed when you sacrifice comfort and convenience for meaning and independence. These people don’t all necessarily think or approach life in the same way — and this is what I prefer, the aim of living true to yourself instead of the group identity. Accepting nuance as a pre-requisite for authentic self-expression. At last I have found my people.

The search for a specific piece of land that I would call home is still in process, but I don't have an attitude of searching that borders on urgency or a sense of desperation. I understand that much like the many great places I've been and people I've met, these things tend to unfold in their own time and pace. I'm done with the days of relentless searching. Where I am is where I need to be. What I have is enough. I wonder how much our attitudes towards life would change if we could maintain this perspective on a more frequent basis. I'm certainly working on it. Perhaps, this is why I don't feel called to see everywhere and do everything as much as I used to. It's a different way of travel and discovery that stems from not from scarcity, but with a state of abundance and appreciation as the baseline. This is my new approach to travel, a new approach to being.

Image taken in Sierra de Gredos during the most recent road trip across Spain.