How Travel Is The Joy In My Journey

In business getting from Point A to Point B on your goal sheet may not be the linear process you wish for. Those twists and turns are often called setbacks. It is easy to forget you are on a journey. Stopping and smelling the roses might seem like a waste of time or out of the question if it means you’ll have to go out of your way. When your business journey feels like it came right out of a scene from Planes, Trains, and Automobiles and you are doing your best to hold it together joy is probably not something easily found on the map.

At the very least and often most beneficial these setbacks are the best learning opportunities. Take time to stop and remember that there is joy in the journey. You may have to search high and low and under every rock, but if you look you will find joy.

In just a few weeks I’ll be heading to Argentina where I started off last year. I remember vividly being on the plane in January 2017 and knowing I had the world, literally, ahead of me. I also can’t forget the journey to get to the airport.

It began with tearful goodbyes and knowing that I would miss a year of being with my family. I would miss birthdays, graduations, holidays, and those unplanned moments of joy and sadness. This wasn’t just my journey it was my daughter’s as well. I like to say we reversed roles. Instead of her going off to college she stayed home and I left. Even though we knew this was good for both of us, that joy was hard to find. Eventually, we found it.

The shuttle to the airport was filled with lane closures and ice warnings. We were experiencing an extremely cold day in Atlanta and it almost felt like I was alone on the journey from the lack of cars on what is normally a very congested highway. Not the send-off I was hoping for but the joy was found in the anticipation of heading to a warmer climate!

Once on the plane, we experienced a two-hour delay as the crew worked to deice the plane. I found much joy in the empty seat next to mine, stretched out and immediately fell asleep.

All these things might have been reasons for others to stay and not leave. Someone else might have thought these were signs. Each one pointing me to an easier path or at least a less resistant path. Instead, I found my joy in all parts of the journey and pressed on. Much like I would have to do in business all throughout the year as I continued to meet with resistance and less than perfectly planned days. No matter the photos you see or the blogs you read, not every day is paradise.

Finding the joy in the journey is more than something cliche to say. It’s a mindset you create for yourself. When I travel I am physically and visually reminded of the journey I’m about to go on and all the places I’ve been, in business and throughout the world.

Travel days have come with their own set of interruptions ranging from illness, flight delays and cancellations, overweight bags, unsafe landing conditions, and even volcano eruptions.

Business has been interrupted by illness, death, missed deadlines, no internet, lack of sleep, internet outages, and natural disasters. Let’s not forget the twists of totally missing my mark and the turns of rejection that made me feel like I had spun into a ditch.

Each time I begin my travel day I start to go through the best and worst travel days I’ve ever had and easily find the joy in each one of those journeys.

When I get on the plane to Argentina in a few weeks I’ll be reminded of the bright future ahead of me. The journey that led me there almost two years ago is different than what is bringing me back. I have a new joy because this is a new journey.

Thinking back to a year ago at this time I had begun writing my second book. I locked myself away in the studio apartment I was living in Thailand and wrote like there was no tomorrow. Now a year later I unexpectedly find myself writing a second version of my first book.

I’ve been taking steps backward in my business journey so I can start running again. This means I’ve been collecting and soliciting a ton of feedback. Not everything I heard or read was what I wanted to hear or read. Sometimes I was confused. Other times I felt like the last almost four years I’ve completely missed the mark which is just not possible. Even if I had missed the mark let me tell you the journey has been a blast and the “bad” times are something I can laugh about now.

I often say one of my favorite places to work from is the Delta Sky Club. That’s because I’m so excited to get on the plane I’m like a kid eating all her vegetables so I can have dessert. I plow through my work and board the plane with a giddiness.

Not everyone likes to travel. Go figure. To like travel you have to be a person that can see the joy in the journey. Airport traffic, long lines, a full flight, lost luggage, and delays are all things you can experience in order to get to your destination. I’ve experienced them all. I chose to stay calm and enjoy myself. All part of the journey.

Whether you travel or not, if you are going to make it in business you are going to need to find the joy in your journey as well.

There is still a lot of travel in my future because where I am now is just another place on this journey. I don’t enjoy every place I’ve traveled just like I haven’t liked every place I’ve been in business. Some destinations I couldn’t wait to leave and others I wanted to stay forever. However, if I was still there I couldn’t be here now. My business is the same.

Growing rapidly and making constant pivots keeps me challenged and frustrated. My travels are never about finding a destination. In business, I don’t ever believe I’ll get to a place where I have arrived. What I strive to do, and can still struggle with, is always finding my joy. Travel helps me find it.

Melissa Smith has been working remotely since 2013. In 2017, she became location independent. During that time she traveled to 16 countries in 12 months while running her business.

Now Melissa teaches and consults others on how to work remotely and is an author for the first global, online education remote individual certification program with Remote-how Academy.

Melissa is also the bestselling author of Hire the Right Virtual Assistant and Become A Successful Virtual Assistant. Otherwise known as The Personal Virtual Assistant (The PVA).

She has since gained international recognition and has been featured in CareerBuilder, The Muse, Spark Hire, Thinkific & Woman’s World.