2.9
November 12, 2013

You Don’t Need to Travel to Live. ~ Andra Vomir & Richard Gill

Earlier this year we made the decision that we were going to start living the life of our dreams.

This meant packing the bare minimum of what we own into two backpacks to travel the world.

We’ve been on the road for over three months and so far have visited two continents, six countries and 27 cities. Throughout our travels we’ve boarded nine flights, 15 rocky boats and endured 17 long bus rides (phew!).

Our trip has been full of new experiences, different perspectives and at times has been both mentally and physically draining. However, as much as the travelling hasn’t always been easy, the good has definitely triumphed the bad.

We often get asked what the best part of our trip has been so far. Everyone has great expectations of our stories. They want to hear about the mystic islands within Ha Long Bay, the serene sunrise over Angkor Wat or the extraordinary diving in the Thai islands.

And it’s all been great, it really has.

But, we’re here to tell you that you don’t need to travel the world to gain experiences, achieve different perspectives or find yourself in this wild, wild world.

Here’s the honest truth.

Fifty years from now, when we are both sitting in our rockers reminiscing about our adventures, we will be talking about all the in-between moments of our trip:

The time we went to the same restaurant three days in a row for breakfast, lunch and dinner because the food was too good to pass up.

The time we bought 25-cent beers just because we could.

The time we went to the grocery store pretending to pick out groceries ‘for dinner’ just because we missed cooking at home.

The many times we put ‘pick up ice cream bars’ on our high priority list.

These are the raw, simple, uncomplicated moments we love most. The most incredible stories we have are of the times we spent together, the inside jokes we’ve created, the times we spent connecting internally with ourselves and externally with other people we’ve met along the way.

Now, don’t get us wrong we are grateful and appreciative of all of the adventures that this trip has taken us on and all the exciting things that we will continue to see.

But what we’re saying is this: you don’t need to travel anywhere to have these precious moments to look back on when you are 50+ years old sitting in your rocker.

What you need to do is appreciate all the beautiful moments that today has to offer.

Connect with someone you love through a conversation, read a book, sit alone in silence—these are all small but exciting moments that occur every single day.

Look at each day with the excitement that anything can happen. Open your heart to see the beauty in all these small moments, because it truly the in-between moments make up the best memories.

 

Like elephant journal on Facebook.

Assistant Editor: Paige Vignola/Editor: Bryonie Wis

Image courtesy of Love, Andrich 

 

Read 5 Comments and Reply
X

Read 5 comments and reply

Top Contributors Latest

Andra Vomir & Richard Gill