Epiphanies and personality changes

[Hollz]

Who has experienced this? How did it happen and what changed?

[SuDz]

After most peoples first travel I think they all have the same major one, "I have to do this again". It is that first trip that really decides if your going to get the bug or not. I know I got mine after Oz. It just never went away since and I keep thinking of it all the time.

SuDZ

[expatben]

Yeah, I think you get some kind of epiphany while traveling even if you don't realize it at the time. I guess what I learned was that sometimes you need to take a leap of faith and that I am tougher than I thought. It changed my personality a lot, I have more resolve. Actually after 4 years I just went "back to school" to improve my math score and get a better qualification. I think traveling and facing tough odds gave me that courage.

[Hollz]

After most peoples first travel I think they all have the same major one, "I have to do this again". It is that first trip that really decides if your going to get the bug or not. I know I got mine after Oz. It just never went away since and I keep thinking of it all the time.

Hmmmm, interesting answer- part of the reason I asked this question is because I think this site is making me obsessed with travel (I was really into it before but never like this). I’m going to Europe soon for 2 months and all I can think about is where I can go next, where I should work when I get back, how soon I’d be able to take off again, what I’ll enjoy doing when I’m back to my normal life, etc. I just need to relaaaax.

So I try to keep telling myself that not very many people in the world, or throughout history for that matter, get to travel. I have plenty of time and I’m very lucky to have even gotten to go to the places that I have already.

…..Arrrgh, but that’s not really working!!


-I think I’ve just gotta stop going on this site while I’m at work….

[LiveFreeorDie]

I have plenty of time and I’m very lucky to have even gotten to go to the places that I have already.

Of course, the opposite way to look at it is, you could die tomorrow and you have seen only a fraction of all the places in the world to see, and met only a fraction of the cool people in the world you could meet and so you better get movin'!!!

Can't allow you to become complacent and rationalize away a perfectly good addiction.............

As to your question, every trip I have taken has opened brain to different ways of thinking and certainly changed my views of both the world and my place in it.

[SuDz]

Originally posted by Hollz@Jun 7 2006, 10:27 AM
…..Arrrgh, but that’s not really working!!
-I think I’ve just gotta stop going on this site while I’m at work….

[snapback]124711[/snapback]

It never really does long term. Once your bit, it lasts for quite a while. Some people on here have been traveling for their whole lives it seems and at the end will probably still have places they wished they could have gone to, or gone back to, or whatever.

The best thing you can do is try to treat it with time hehe.

SuDZ

[bluepea]

I know what you mean about the needing to relax thing.... GAH!!!! I'm debating China in the late summer, possibly Europe/N. Africa in Spring and then Peace Corps/volunteering overseas late next year. It just never ends and envelopes me and ... I'm so unsettled.

I had an epiphany the first time I saw the ocean. All I could think is "there's something more across there."

[foofiter]

Big changes for me. I have decided to take a new career path completely, changed my political views to an extent, and of course caught the bug bigtime (just ask these guys here!). So yes it does change you and almost always for the better.

Foo

[Legitikick]

Travelling has made me much more independent, and social, all at the same time. Not that I wasn't a bit of both before, but its definitely broadened my horizon. I've realized that I can do anything, regardless of the odds, and to rely more on that idea that something good will always come out of whatever I'm doing. And of course the thrid-world countries have made me realize just how lucky I am and what to be thankful for.

I've definitely caught the bug and can't wait to get back to it, and I'm trying to include it in a career, somehow. But the problem with that is that someday I'd like to have a family, and it'll be my priority, so how to balance all that will be tricky. That's where that idea that something good will transpire comes in.

[LostFarmboy]

Hmmm, good question. I guess through travelling i have become a lot more confident, things that used to worry me don't seem to be a problem anymore. Due to this increased confidence I have realised that the world really is my oyster and i can achieve anything i want, dreams really can become a reality if i put some effort in.

Another important thing i have come to learn through travelling is that no matter how bad things get here at home, there are millions of people out there that are a lot worse off than me and i should quit my complaining.

[worldwidemike]

I agree with what the other folks have said here. I also believe travel makes you more tolerant of people from other cultures. I see folks around here mumble "damn foreignor" under their breath when they encounter a person from another country who doesn't speak the language well. Me, on the other hand, I'm curious where they're from, whether they're traveling or immigrating, what sparked them to come here, and so on.

Being that "damn foreignor" when you're off traveling opens your eyes and makes you appreciate a smile or kind greeting...

worldwidemike

[U2fan]

I've had many, sooooo many. One I can think of off the top of my head: There is so much more to life and I have so much to see (the epiphany that I was over an ex while looking at the pyramids).