Yesterday was a travel day for me. It began with a car ride down to the airport, time spent waiting on line for security, a plane flight (that’s where I wrote this – have to appreciate in-flight wifi), and will end with a number of local transit rides when I arrive at my destination.
I’m a big fan of the benefits that long-distance travel provides, and I appreciate the fact that we can see much more of the world today than we could even fifty years ago (travel makes this at least physically easier, financially I’m not so sure).
While I wish that all aspects of travel were generally friendlier, I do enjoy seeing new places and being in new spaces, even if I have to endure additional stressors. There is something that is exciting about visiting a place I’ve never been, if only for a few days.
Being in-transit is an interesting mindset. Whether talking about the actual trip itself, or what the trip does to our minds and our routines, there is a lot of stretching involved when we travel (unfortunately, it isn’t particularly easy to stretch out during the plane flight :) ). We have to stretch the way we do things to allow us to meet all the needs that travel requires. We also have to stretch our minds to allow for the different ways that things occur in different parts of the country and/or the world. We can’t visit a new space and assume that all things will operate in the same fashion that they did in the other places we’ve been. That is certainly closed thinking, and wouldn’t allow us to truly grow in the ways we need to.
I welcome the opportunity to be in transit form time-to-time. It forces me to see things through a new and different lens, and allows me the opportunity to consider all the ways that I might stretch and grow in order to learn as much as possible in any given scenario, situation, or location!