Finding yourself abroad or while traveling actually works

Over the edge of my laptop, I stared out the window of our apartment. Three palm trees in the front yard, the small harbor at the door, and behind it the Aegean Sea. It was there in that uncomfortable chair, with that rickety wifi and delightful view that I discovered what I never wanted in life again, and what I actually wanted much more.

‘I don’t need to meditate on a mountain among the monks right away.’ It might be the most used sentence by millennials searching for themselves. Anything to downplay that you just don’t know anymore and that you’re going to figure it out abroad. What’s wrong with searching for yourself? Who are you hurting with that? And why can’t that happen abroad? You only encounter your own discomfort while traveling, so it’s not like anyone else is bothered by you. And better to tinker with yourself now than to head towards that well-known midlife crisis that our predecessors had to deal with. Right?

On that crappy stool in Greece, I came to the realization that I want to work to live and not live to work. Did I have to be abroad for that? Yes, because in my ordinary life, I don’t give myself the time to think about it. And that detachment from daily life is exactly the point that experts also highlight in their research.

In Quest Psychology, I read that each generation is a bit more stressed than the previous one, as evidenced by figures, reports, and measurements of stress hormones. So it’s not strange that you also have to do more to clear your head, says psychology professor Ap Dijksterhuis. By exposing yourself to new stimuli, your mind empties faster, and you mainly find those new stimuli across the border.

It helps to take a trip for a few weeks (or longer), but when you pack your things and move across the border, the effects are truly significant. By exposing yourself to a completely different environment, you gain new insights and learn to see things differently. Including your own life. Something you don’t quickly have at home with a view of the containers of the neighbors.

Finding yourself abroad or while traveling works quite well. Think about that again when you’re apologizing to yourself for going to live with the monks in Tibet for a month.

Source: Quest Psychology