My mentor and I are exploring how transformational traveling can be. As I was reflecting on what experiences were life-changing for me, the first one that came to me was when my husband and I went to Tuscany a few years ago. It wasn’t because of the history and romance of Tuscany, or the food + wine or even the cool experience we had at a cheese-making farm. All of those things were amazing, yes.
But what changed my life is the tiny town we stayed in. On the first day we arrived we went to explore the town. It was the middle of the afternoon on a weekday. And to our surprise, everything was closed. Shops, cafes, banks, etc. All closed. It was eerily quiet.
And then it hit me – it’s the middle of the afternoon – it is their “siesta” time or in Italy, “riposo” – a time when they close their businesses to enjoy life and their loved ones.
While I have traveled internationally quite a bit, this really struck a chord in me. It was 2018 and here was a community of people where life was not all about work. At the current time, my life was pretty much all about work with fun and joy sporadically in there somewhere.
It flabbergasted me that there was a different way to live life. I didn’t have to revolve my life around work. My work didn’t even have to mean anything about who I am. I didn’t have to continue overworking myself day in and day out for my job. And I certainly didn’t have to stay on the same path that was no longer serving me – even though it was a “good, well-paying, stable job”. Those are all “Brules” – bullsh*t rules as coined by Vishen Lakhiani – that were made up by other humans.
While I didn’t leave my corporate career until a year later, this experience on our first day in Tuscany was a catalyst for me. It started a crack in my thinking that there could be another way (there’s always another way BTW).
So, tell me – has travel been transformational for you or helped you see things differently? How so? What are you seeing and doing differently now because of it?
PS – similar to how travel can be a catalyst for change and transformation, so can having a professional guide + coach to help you. If you’re interested, reach out to me, let’s talk.
