“Adventure is Worthwhile In and of Itself” — Chris Guillebeau
This is also true of inner adventure. Getting to know yourself in the deepest ways available to you, with whatever resources you have — from meditation to Internal Family Systems to doing weird detoxes like the Hubbard protocol to t’ai chi or ecstatic dance or authentic movement.
Whether the door in is stillness or movement; whether it’s psychedelics or psychedelic doses of niacin; whether it’s using liminal mind states like dreaming or connecting to your parts right before bed / upon waking or journaling in a wide-awake state in the middle of the day — whatever you use, however you travel inward, it’s all worth it.
No effort to get to know yourself is wasted. Reading, listening to podcasts and watching TV and movies are also part of inner travel because they expose you to imaginary lands inside other people’s minds, which helps you build frameworks for understanding your own.
Not everyone is called to travel to real-life place like Djibouti and Nigeria, although outward travel can be an amazing way to open up to the human experience in real time. But we are all called to travel inward in the ways that suit us best. And it doesn’t have to be with a destination in mind — an outcome of “healing” or fixing ourselves. Sometimes we travel inward just for the fun of it, the joy of self-discovery and self-mastery; the courage to be more fully who we are a happy by-product.
Here’s to the adventure of travel, in and of itself, both inward and outward!
Adventure is Chocolate Croissants for Dinner. No, I meant adventure is so worthwhile! I am finishing an article on Malta today, where I spent a month or so house-sitting a while back. My girlfriend and I are nowhere near the travelers you are, Chris, but we've house-sat for stretches in many countries and fabulous places in the world, and despite there being some calamities on some of the ventures, the travel, the sights, the people, the cultures—so worthwhile!
Reminds me a bit of Tamara Shopsin’s “Arbitrary Stupid Goal,” a quest coined by her dad who believed that to be engaged with life you have to set up these artificial goal posts for yourself and make them happen. He’s not wrong. It’s a reminder that we really are the authors of our own stories and we exist to experiment and explore how we see fit. Traveling Mercies, y’all!
When I started my quest to the North of Sweden to explore the therapeutic effects of slow travel and return home (wherever that is), I was reading The Happiness of Pursuit. I highlighted passages every few pages, and it helped me understand how to undertake my journey.
Yet, I recently realized the calling wasn't truly my own. Something in me told me to go to the North of Sweden. That something was trying to prove to others what I didn't need to prove to myself. I didn't need to show off how far I could travel with trains, buses, and bikes—I needed to feel homesick.
Which didn't turn out to be my birthplace (Chile), the land of my heritage (Belgium), or the country I grew up in (Canada). It was Spain.
Although I don't meet all the requirements in the book to call what I'm a quest, every turn my adventure has taken so far has been worth it.
I'm a planster (somewhere between a panster and plotter), an agnostic, a wishy-washy mother fucker who dips his toes in where he likes.
By planstering my quest, I don't feel contrived by plots and bookings. I'm able to go where the story takes me.
People say you regret more the things you didn’t do. I believe it’s because we think things would have been better if we made a different choice. There is no way to truly know what the outcome would’ve been in your life. So why have those regrets? Even if you bought Apple stock or whatever you may have other things happen (related to buying this stock that brought you money or a different place in life) that ended up being horrible. You may be happier not ever taking that path that you regret not taking.
“Adventure is Worthwhile In and of Itself” — Chris Guillebeau
This is also true of inner adventure. Getting to know yourself in the deepest ways available to you, with whatever resources you have — from meditation to Internal Family Systems to doing weird detoxes like the Hubbard protocol to t’ai chi or ecstatic dance or authentic movement.
Whether the door in is stillness or movement; whether it’s psychedelics or psychedelic doses of niacin; whether it’s using liminal mind states like dreaming or connecting to your parts right before bed / upon waking or journaling in a wide-awake state in the middle of the day — whatever you use, however you travel inward, it’s all worth it.
No effort to get to know yourself is wasted. Reading, listening to podcasts and watching TV and movies are also part of inner travel because they expose you to imaginary lands inside other people’s minds, which helps you build frameworks for understanding your own.
Not everyone is called to travel to real-life place like Djibouti and Nigeria, although outward travel can be an amazing way to open up to the human experience in real time. But we are all called to travel inward in the ways that suit us best. And it doesn’t have to be with a destination in mind — an outcome of “healing” or fixing ourselves. Sometimes we travel inward just for the fun of it, the joy of self-discovery and self-mastery; the courage to be more fully who we are a happy by-product.
Here’s to the adventure of travel, in and of itself, both inward and outward!
Adventure is Chocolate Croissants for Dinner. No, I meant adventure is so worthwhile! I am finishing an article on Malta today, where I spent a month or so house-sitting a while back. My girlfriend and I are nowhere near the travelers you are, Chris, but we've house-sat for stretches in many countries and fabulous places in the world, and despite there being some calamities on some of the ventures, the travel, the sights, the people, the cultures—so worthwhile!
Reminds me a bit of Tamara Shopsin’s “Arbitrary Stupid Goal,” a quest coined by her dad who believed that to be engaged with life you have to set up these artificial goal posts for yourself and make them happen. He’s not wrong. It’s a reminder that we really are the authors of our own stories and we exist to experiment and explore how we see fit. Traveling Mercies, y’all!
Chris, could you please share what were your favourite countries? Maybe top 5? I’m curious. Thanks!
When I started my quest to the North of Sweden to explore the therapeutic effects of slow travel and return home (wherever that is), I was reading The Happiness of Pursuit. I highlighted passages every few pages, and it helped me understand how to undertake my journey.
Yet, I recently realized the calling wasn't truly my own. Something in me told me to go to the North of Sweden. That something was trying to prove to others what I didn't need to prove to myself. I didn't need to show off how far I could travel with trains, buses, and bikes—I needed to feel homesick.
Which didn't turn out to be my birthplace (Chile), the land of my heritage (Belgium), or the country I grew up in (Canada). It was Spain.
Although I don't meet all the requirements in the book to call what I'm a quest, every turn my adventure has taken so far has been worth it.
I'm a planster (somewhere between a panster and plotter), an agnostic, a wishy-washy mother fucker who dips his toes in where he likes.
By planstering my quest, I don't feel contrived by plots and bookings. I'm able to go where the story takes me.
People say you regret more the things you didn’t do. I believe it’s because we think things would have been better if we made a different choice. There is no way to truly know what the outcome would’ve been in your life. So why have those regrets? Even if you bought Apple stock or whatever you may have other things happen (related to buying this stock that brought you money or a different place in life) that ended up being horrible. You may be happier not ever taking that path that you regret not taking.
So true, and exactly what I needed to be reminded of as I’ve been hitting some roadblocks on my current adventure project. Thank you!
Adventure hoorah!! 🥰