How I Want to Travel
Just taking a trip isn’t all that hard, and though long-term travel takes more planning, it doesn’t inherently require mindful attention. My journey, however, is specifically a journey of mindfulness, so I don’t want to hit 90,000 miles just to discover that I haven’t gained much more than numbers on an odometer. That would really suck.
So here are some of my intentions; roadblocks of a sort that I am putting in my own way to make me slow down and consider everything that I am doing:
- Choose the less convenient option
- Choose manual over electric and analog over digital technologies where possible
- Avoid major highways and take the local, indirect, more interesting roads connecting small towns, and see what they have to offer
- Use renewable energy sources, solar panels to provide electricity, a solar oven for cooking instead of a propane stove, and lots of blankets instead of a propane heater
- Prepare food for myself from scratch, mostly vegan, locally sourced as much as possible
- Value people over things, learn from those who have walked this path before me, foster empathy
- Reduce dependence on things, value the things I have by using them until they can’t be used or repurposed any more, reduce waste
- Enjoy the beauty of creation and create beautiful art
- Connect with my God through prayer
- Foster inner silence, cultivate inner peace
- Try new things, learn new skills, explore without having to commit long term to any of them, and play
- Go outside and be part of the natural environment, don’t just look at it through a window
- Move more of my body, in more ways, more often
- Be frugal, make do with what I have, finish paying off student loan debt, no new debt of any kind, if I can’t afford it now, I don’t buy it
- Practice instant gratitude and delayed gratification
Most importantly:
- Be kind to myself when I do not live up to these very lofty ideals and try again the next time