There are so many things that I need to accomplish before I depart. I really have no idea how long I will be gone. I hope to be gone for at least a year. I am putting everything I own in storage, getting rid of my car, and wrapping up any other loose ends I have.
While preparing for my travels I have undergone some changes. I have done a lot of research to try to mentally prepare myself for everything I am about to experience in the upcoming months. I don’t believe that there is anything that can truly prepare anyone for what it is like to travel, to experience new places and cultures. It’s a sensory overload with all of the new sights, smells, sounds, and tastes. While traveling around Spain and Italy there were times that I wanted a few minutes to sit down in my room and decompress. The language barrier can be overwhelming at times. It’s not only difficult trying to communicate with the locals, but trying to navigate maps, subways and streets in a foreign language can be trying as well. I remember watching the movie Lost in Translation before I had ever set foot out of the US. I didn’t get it. I thought it was a strange movie that really didn’t have much of a plot. After returning from my trip to Spain and Italy I had watched the movie again and I got it. It made sense. It’s difficult to fully describe, it’s more or less an understanding that you can only achieve through international travels.
One of the bigger changes I have been undergoing in preparation for my travels is best described as taking on a sense of minimalism. While living in Vegas I changed in a lot of ways. In some ways for the better, in some ways for the worse. People in Vegas are so consumed with money, with having a big beautiful home, an expensive car, and all of the other materialistic obsessions that are out there. It’s like everyone in Vegas is fixated on keeping up with the Jones’ and you can’t help but get wrapped up in it. Moving back to Reno was a good decision on my part because Reno helped to ground me again. I began to realize that none of those things are really of any importance. Now that I am preparing to travel, I am realizing that I can’t bring all of my things with me. I will only want to carry with me the bare essentials, and that is all. So all of the things that once seemed so important to me, well, just aren’t any more. They have become a burden. Now I have to figure out what to do with all of my things. I will keep the things that are truly important, or things I will need when I am finished with my travels. As for everything else, I am going to get rid of it. I have fully transformed from someone who wanted the best of everything, to just wanting the necessities. It’s an amazing and freeing feeling.
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