Bon voyage

Before I travel I usually go out to buy some special pieces to take along on my trip: perhaps a scarf, a new hat, or a comfortable pair of shoes.  Is that something you would do? I do wonder why I feel that urge, and why I don’t just wait to grab some bargains from overseas that will remind me of my journey.  Is it because my mood lifts with anticipation when I am about to travel, and my decisions are connected to that feeling?

At certain times in our lives we let our emotions guide us, and I think travelling is one of those times. For example, when we are away from home we will often do things we wouldn’t normally do, or we will do the usual things differently, relaxing our inhibitions and submitting to our impulses.  It is a time when we allow the conscious self to make strong connections with the subconscious self, and to discover, or rediscover, ourselves.

Our life experiences will also determine our travel destinations, hopefully places that we know will excite positive emotions. So, what ticks the boxes for each of us?

For me, a journey I would embark on needs to offer:

  • Connections with my core values and beliefs
  • Opportunities to indulge all my senses (taste, smell, touch, sight, hearing)
  • Good value for money
  • And, last but not least, a destination that is safe enough for me to relax and enjoy myself – in every sense, of course.

I sometimes catch myself reflecting on how far I have come from that young girl growing up in Vietnam. In those days there were three main means of transportation: walking, riding a bicycle (or, rarely, being on the back seat of the bicycle) and riding on the back of my father’s motorcycle when we went out as a family (yes, there were quite a few of us on the back of that motorcycle).

My very first plane trip was the one from Vietnam to Australia when I was 12 years old, and after much motion sickness, I vowed then that it would also be my last plane trip ever.  How wrong was I? 

My love for travel began when I was 20, when the desire to visit a long-time friend could be realised.  And so the second flight in my life took me all the way across Australia, from Perth to Melbourne, a distance of some 2700km.  Soon after that, I fell in love with travelling. Now I travel several times a year, although the 2020 travel restrictions forced me to cancel my planned holiday in Japan.

Still, that hasn’t stopped me buying a new luggage set and a dozen swimsuits, in preparation for my next adventure. I wonder where and when that will be…