How traveling changed my life, and it can change yours too
Travel
This is really where I allowed my journey to begin. When I say my journey, I mean the journey of becoming me, who I am today!
It started with a big wild dream (doesn’t it always?) I remember a few years before I ever started this journey at a Holiday gathering I told extended family that I barely ever saw that I had these big dreams to travel the world! (HA, HA, HA!) That right there is probably what they thought…the “Ok young girl, keep telling yourself that!” But even if that IS what they thought, I didn’t feel that from them.
Well the time came when I decided to pick up my life and move to the USVI (US Virgin Islands) which was absolutely what propelled me in all areas of my life, I am beyond blessed for that massive, scary move.
But, here’s the thing, a lot happened while living on that Island, mostly good things however, some really big/bad things also happened in my life at the time..and all of it felt heavy and really hard, but I got through it all. Here’s a secret, I ended up living like the retired snowbirds dream to live, I would spend the Winter’s in the USVI (because I am from the North East) and then go elsewhere for the Summer’s. I did this for 2.5 years. Not a huge amount of time, but long enough to get a taste of such a different way to live life!
Things got to the point where I knew I wanted to shift my focus and start spending energy on what I’d like to do with my future, career, enjoyment, etc. One of the things I kept coming back to was travel. Another, was Yoga and Fitness.
I spent the next couple of years doing a ton of travel. It actually shaped the way I currently try to live my life today, meaning, being sure to get travel in throughout the year although I am a highly functioning adult in the real world now and have all the normal adult life happenings, so it is a bit more challenging. However, I always a try to remind myself to do it because it keeps me sane, brings me immense joy, and fuels me to be a better person not just for myself, but everyone else!
In those couple of years i’d take myself all over the world, spending a month in Florence Italy to get my Yoga Teacher Training Certification, then going to different regions in Italy (PS, Italy is in my blood so I knew I needed to spend a good amount of time exploring there.) I’d then go to Germany for what many people know Germany for, “Oktoberfest” (which is in September by the way), head over to Greece at a time when I didn’t understand how corrupt it was, not really safe to travel, the land was in rough shape. In my mind I had the Greek Islands floating as my back drop, but the City of Greece was a far cry from that. During that trip I learned that there was a Greece Marathon happening, which, did you know, Greece is the first place to ever hold a marathon? That felt kind of special in retrospect! Hopped over to Spain as the last leg of that massive rip, which I loved.
I had the wonderful opportunity to witness my beautiful cousin get married in New Delhi, India. What a way to be so culturally immersed. And got to see the famous Taj Mahal which was so pristine and stunning!
Anyways, my travels have taken me to far off countries in SEA (South East Asia) such as Bali, Hong Kong, Cambodia, Philippines, Thailand to all over Europe, France is definitely one of my favorites. To the deserts of Morocco and closer to home (NYC) to places like Mexico, Costa Rica, and Hawaii.
To note: Some of these trips were done with one other friend, an acquaintance, my husband or just myself. But during these travels I really began to unpack my story and create a new one. One where I let go of this version of myself I grew up being, not really taking any ownership of my life, thinking things were just one way, a straight line, A-Z, no in-between. I ended up learning that life is actually like a rainbow, in full spectrum and color when operating appropriately.
I learned and unlearned, I took the bits and pieces from each land that felt resonate with me and applied them to my tool box, I went with zero expectations and because of that, came back with so much abundance. In those times, when forced into unknown lands and places one really has no choice other than to be present, open, and simply aware. And that my friends is key; being present, open and aware. When we live life the same exact way every single day, it becomes mundane, boring, routine at best. You begin to get comfortable, complacent in life and loose site of things that actually light you up and matter. That GIVE you life rather than deplete it. There's magic to traveling. There’s no dollar sign that makes it unworthy, the simple fact that we can jump on an airplane in this day in age and go to any country in the world is purely amazing. We are so very lucky.
It is my goal to continue these travels and explore as many continents as I can.
PS- the family members who I shared my big, lofty dream with many years back, have given so much admiration and support as they watched the reality of what once was just spoken words of a dream, come into fruition (follow your heart.)
But right now we can’t travel, so why the heck am I writing this!?
Well, because I miss it (ha) and pausing to reflect on how much joy it brought me, how amazing it felt to live in those very aware and present moments, feels TOO good, keeps me humble now, in this present moment. It reminds me to continue doing the things that bring me joy and fills my cup up. And although it may feel hard right now because travel isn’t as feasible, there are things we all can do to help ourselves!
Here are some things you CAN do until travel becomes more available
Get clear on where you’d like to actually go and travel to, make that list you’ve been thinking about in your head all these years but refraining from actually putting it onto paper (this helps make it more real)
Figure out a game plan of what could be your reality when travel is allowed, what’s realistic? How many trips in a given year, etc?
Figure out a budget plan, start saving for leisure/ travel, that way when you can do it, you are literally ready to go, ahead of the game
Travel to places you can right now and feel comfortable with, maybe that means staying local to your area. The fact is, we often travel outside of our state, but haven’t seen most of what’s right in our backyard, perhaps this is your opportunity to begin starting right where you are at!
Write out what holds you back from traveling, why you want to travel, and what can help you in taking the leap (taking the leap was the absolute best decision I ever made in my life, do the thing!)
My name is Sharon Ng, creator of PineappleYogi, I lead Yoga Retreats around the world and locally to NYC, these Retreats are fueled in exploration of the world, but also of ourselves. The focus is around a true Reset of body, mind and spirit/heart and incorporates mindset coaching along with other modalities.
Share your travel experience and how/why it’s changed your life with me here: sharon@pienappleyogi.com