Claire found this quote In World Wide Travelers, Birds of a Feather group newsletter, of the Escapees recreational vehicle club. The editor, Kathy Howe puts together a great monthly newsletter from Escapees who travel abroad.
My take: We live our lives not in our homes, spectacular or humble, not in our careers, renowned or unheeded; comely or homely, wealthy or underprivileged, we experience life through our emotions. To a great degree we determine, by our choices, the emotions we experience. Travel, markedly independent travel, lifts us from our daily milieu, out of our comfort zone, stretches us in untold ways, and surges us with unfamiliar emotions.
Often, due to The New Bohemians’ penchant for bicycle travel in the developing world, we are confronted with discomfort, sometimes a modicum of danger, fear, unknown foods, and disagreeable hygienic conditions. We meet those challenges to our normal way of living with a fresh eye to new learning, and a relinquishing of preconceptions of how thing “ought” to be. Humor is a tool to be kept close at hand, at least in retrospect.
The rewards are innumerable, the memories priceless.
Claire Rogers writes on cross-cultural adventure drawn from her travels across the Silk Road from Beijing to Istanbul, around Australia and of course, through Iceland–all by bike.
She’s currently traveling by tandem with her husband Bob, through southwest China, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand. Check out NewBohemians.net for more information on their travels.
