What travel does for my mental clarity

I was in a cab on my way to Madrid–Barajas Airport and thought through the question that comes to mind every time I prepare for a flight back to the good ol’ U.S. of A.: why do always feel so ‘new’ — enlightened and freed, if you will — while away? I think it’s exactly that. The answer is in the question. I’m away and freed from the order, the process, the monotony of my every day life that after three years doing more of the same, feels almost ironically inflexible. Insomuch that my mind is on auto-pilot, and it’s hard to see the forest through the crowded subway-Outlook inbox-client meeting-tiny apartment trees. In the city, I have to consciously pause to break the cycle. But when I’m abroad, in a spectacularly beautiful place where all I’m doing is wandering and wondering, I more readily give myself permission to uncover and explore all that is out there waiting for me to get out of my own way; and more importantly, all that is great in me. As I stepped out of cab, passport in-hand, I arrived at a new question: how do I get here (mentally) without needing to escape there (physically)?

#justmythoughts