Traveling is About Freedom, Authenticity, Not Knowing, and Connectedness

As I sit in a café uploading my pictures from my travels, I notice something common in all my pictures — a smile. Yes, I smile for the camera but there’s something genuine about the smile that happens when I travel. I notice whenever I look back at photos, I am happiest when I travel, no matter what the journey is. It’s no surprise that I love traveling given my recent adventures but what is it about traveling that just makes me so happy. I think I found 4 reasons:

1) Freedom

This is the most important value for me, in my professional and personal life. I know I am so fortunate to have grown up in Canada where I was given freedom, a luxury that many people around the world don’t have. When I got to the ranch in Argentina where there was an open flat land, I just wanted to run, dance, and jump around of the vast beauty around me. There was something about the infinite space that liberated me. When I looked at the glaciers that went on kilometers with no end, there’s a sense of infinite possibilities floating above.

I feel like in my day-to-day life, I’m trapped or constrained by everything around me and I miss the freedom of doing whatever I want. My environment puts me in a box, and traveling has literally helped me escape that box.

2) Authenticity

When I travel, no one gives a crap who I am, what I’ve done, or what I’ll be doing next month, etc. They get to know me in that very moment, and I can be myself without any strings attached. It’s not like a networking event where everyone goes with a purpose and judges you for the value you can bring to them. When you’re in a tour with a group for a few hours, you build conversations on what’s happening around you. This relationship is so much more genuine.

The other part of authenticity that comes with traveling is that you are actually at the real place enjoying real culture and no longer eating “Chinese food” that Chinese people don’t even know about.

3) Not Knowing

I don’t tend to plan very much before I travel, winging it day-by-day, and I absolutely hate joining tour groups where everything is confined to a schedule. I remember when my mom was asking me what’s the plan for today, or when this guy pulling a rickshaw was asking me in Vietnam where I was going, or when someone asked me how to get somewhere, my answer has constantly been “I don’t know.” There’s something exciting and fun about not knowing what’s going to happen next because in our daily lives, we always know what we’re going to do today, tomorrow (go to work, buy groceries, etc).

It’s a nice change to not know the answer, so there’s the possibility that anything can happen. This is also why I enjoy the startup and entrepreneurship world where things are always rapidly changing, and the future is uncertain. It makes life more adventurous and fun. YOLO

4) Connectedness

My life epiphanies always happen while I travel because I feel a connectedness to myself when I am removed from any particular environment. But there’s also a feeling of connection to strangers because you have to rely on blind faith and trust in a land unknown. For example, I booked a tour to the desert over the Internet and some driver was supposed to come pick us up at a location between 3–3:30. By the time it was 4:30PM, I had no idea who this driver was or what to expect, other than having blind trust that this person will show up. The same is true when I’m asking for recommendations or directions, or practically anything, since traveling relies on blind faith and trust in humanity — something that is rarely practiced anymore.

There is also a special connection you have with the land, nature, and the world when you’re traveling and being disconnected to your “real life.” Although there’s a sense of loneliness when you don’t know a single person in a new country, there’s a different sense of connection you have when you realize the world is much bigger than what you know.

So in summary, I realized my love for traveling comes from the fact it aligns with my biggest values in life: freedom, authenticity, and connectedness. I note that traveling is not about the destination; it’s about the process. In all my journeys (locally or abroad), I need to incorporate the above elements for me to enjoy the wonders of traveling.