Why Adventure Travel
These are the
best of times and the worst of times. What was true yesterday isn't true today,
and the volatility of climate change, the stock market, consumer prices and the
environment are enough to propel anyone into a strait jacket. Add to that
relationship turbulence, kids, parents, pets, work, traffic, health and you can
easily find yourself sitting on top of a heap of stress that just keeps
growing. Life seems to be an assault on your mental health. We have an idea
about how you can climb out of the pressure cooker without leaping into the
fire: ADVENTURE TRAVEL. And here is why:
1) LEAVE IT ALL BEHIND
It doesn't
happen when you start packing, or when you stay up half the night before your
trip trying to answer emails and take out the trash. But once you board the
plane, train or get in your car, you breathe a little more deeply as the daily
grind gets smaller and smaller and then disappears in the rear view mirror.
2) POSSIBILITIES FOR NEW INSIGHTS
When you
encounter new sites, something opens up in your mind and heart and you can have
new insights about old problems. A change of scene can make things back home
look very different.
3) EXERCISE AND MENTAL HEALTH
When you hit
the road, there are infinite options for active engagement with your
environment. You can walk, bike, hike, climb, paddle, skate, ski,
dance. When you are at home, it's sometimes hard to get motivated for physical
exercise. When you are away, it all seems so much more appealing. And you
certainly know that an RX for depression and anxiety is - move your muscles.
4) THE ZEN STATE
To be really
well, one has to be in the moment, the now. When you travel, there is so much
new stimulation that it forces you to respond in the present. You slip
effortlessly into the zone.
5) NEW CONNECTIONS
If there is a
certain ennui associated with the same people and the same stories back home,
then the remedy is meeting people on the road. Haven't you made friends in
faraway places when you travelled?
If you haven't,
it's time to start. They can be part of your travel group, or people you
connect to who live in your chosen destination.
6) SELF-SOOTHING
An antidote to
self-medicating can be self-soothing. When you travel, you do things you love,
you buy treasured souvenirs, you pamper yourself with small pleasures. These
actions make you feel good about yourself. They don't rile you up. They don't
perturb or upset you. You replace a desire to escape with a real escape that is
much better for you.
7) PRIDE IN SELF
Maybe you've
had a rough spell at work or with relationships. You feel a little worthless or
useless.
When you
travel, you exercise your high school Spanish or French, you successfully
navigate your way around an unknown environment, you excel at hiking or cooking
or yoga. You do things that make you feel proud of yourself and that help
to build back your self-esteem.
8) PAIN RELIEF
There are
different kinds of pain: physical, emotional, psychic or spiritual. They are
all quite real. Somehow, by some mysterious alchemy, travel can alleviate pain.
You just feel better. The sprained ankle carries you up a mountain. The wrecked
love affair seems more remote and you can foresee a life beyond it. Your
relationship to the Divine is renewed through nature.
9) CHANGING HABITS
Worry and the
blues can sometimes be attributed to habits of thinking. You get in a mental
loop you can't get out of. You fret about the past and are anxious about the
present. It is hard to change your thoughts, but travel facilitates that
change. You literally walk new paths, eat different foods, speak to different
people, hear exotic languages. These changes can help to yank you out of
habitual patterns that sap energy from your life.
10) LAUGHTER
A good yuk can
go a long way towards brightening a day. Have you noticed how much you laugh
when you are travelling? You see a funny sign, an odd translation, a street
performer, you meet a friend from junior high school on top of a mountain. And
you let it rip with a belly laugh.
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