We can’t all be beaming all the time. We can’t all be freespirited, take-things-as-they-come, spontaneous adventurers 100 per cent of the time. And, you know what, that’s completely OK.
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Learning
Why do you travel?
Inspired by all of the hullabaloo (yes, I tried) surrounding social media and teen (ex) Instagrammer/Youtuber Essena O’Neill the last few days, I’ve been thinking a lot about the purpose behind why we do what we do.
Maybe quitting social media is an extreme action to take, but the sentiment is clear: living life behind a superficial façade is no way to live. It distracts us from real issues that really matter and make us feel something deep down when we devote our time to them.
How does this relate to travel?
Take a look through the travellers you follow on social media. So many (though not all) have the exact same profile—I admit that I likely fall into that. We are travellers who travel because… we like to travel? We like to see things? We like to take pictures and post them on instagram or take selfies so everyone can see how adventurous we are?
I don’t want to get cynical or or snarky here. What I’m looking for is some true inspiration.
Why do you travel? Is it because you love to see how people interact in other cultures? Because you are obsessed with cultural ceremonies and all their little quirks? Maybe you get a high from climbing new mountains, seeing new landscapes? Or you want to explore conservation issues, spread the word about organizations that tackle real social issues, or live a life that just makes you feel good inside?
Being a traveller is not what defines you these days. What really matters is what you do while you are travelling. Let’s talk about it.
Staying Productive On The Road
It’s been 9 days since my last post. That’s the longest I’ve gone without updating this blog in quite some time. Let me explain why that’s happened.
When I started writing this blog a year ago, I was living and working in a large city in Canada. I’d just returned from a year of living in South Korea and several months of traveling in Asia, Australia, and New Zealand. Working 8-4, Monday to Friday, I had a routine in place and plenty of memories to draw on from my travels. Writing about those memories was a way to unwind after work and on weekends, a means of freeing my mind and bringing back the good times while keeping up with my writing and developing a creative space.
Right now, I’m living nowhere. Everything I own is crammed into my parent’s basement (honestly, much of it has being laying there forgotten for three years, ever since I moved to Korea). I have no set routine and I really have never been great at setting up my own work schedule. That’s not to say that I haven’t been working during the last month in Ecuador, but I’ve needed to really rearrange my priorities and how I’m handling projects. Let’s talk about it.
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Why You Should Watch Earthlings (Even Though It’s Hard)
After on-and-off vegetarianism for several years, I finally decided to commit fully to veganism a couple of weeks ago. Suddenly, one evening, it just hit me that I needed to do it and it needed to be now—not a gradual transition, but right now and forever. Earthlings may not have played into that initial decision (since I have only watched it since), but it did a hell of a lot to cement that idea as the right thing to do.
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Be a better travel blogger this weekend
I heard recently that if you spend a weekend reading and devouring information on a given topic, you will know more about that topic than 90 per cent of the people out there.
I would never say that I’m an expert on the topic of blogging, but I have a deep love of learning and that’s something I think I’m pretty good with. So, I constantly find myself rooting through new material and resources for tips and advice. Not everything out there is a gem, and there can be a lot of repetition. Here are a few resources that I feel have actually helped me out along the way.
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Learn Spanish this weekend
The trick to learning any language is to find a way to immerse yourself in it–really consuming as much as you can all the time. That means that, rather than designating an hour here and there for study, you should be trying to incorporate the language into your everyday life and hobbies.
If Spanish speaking is your current language goal, you’ll find that it’s incredibly easy to find ways to fill your life with the language. With that said, here are a few ways to immerse yourself this weekend.
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5 Mistakes I’ve Made As A Traveller
It’s hard to admit your mistakes, especially when they can be slightly embarrassing (if only in our minds). Anyway, since I did make a list of mistakes I’ve made as a blogger, I felt like this was a bit overdue.
This is not a complete list of mistakes I’ve made, by any means. Rather, it’s some of the first that come to mind. Also, I’m sure I’ll be continuing to make more in the future. Anyway, let’s get on with it.
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