Sometimes we have to put down our books that hold the stories of adventures of others and get out of into this world to experience our own adventures and write our own story.
Something on my mind as I look over the past year of flying is the “lack of adventure and memorable chance” I’ve taken. Of course, I don’t believe life has to have such things all of the time to be fulfilling, but I am a dreamer. I cherish quiet bouts, but simply flowing through life on a calm river would have me grow old too quickly. My mind and imagination are filled with the surreal spaces of my dreams, moments of thrill in creating those dreams into artwork, measuring myself to the journeys of countless characters from tales and books and history, and of course I would be lying if I didn’t say the many meticulously and glamorously curated lives of friends and family and strangers on social media.
The truth is, I have two things I’m very bad at:
- Getting out of the comfort of my hotel room. Setting out on the unknown opportunities my job affords me on long layovers in other cities around the world.
I’ve always been a solo dreamer, but never been a solo adventurer. It comes with being a twin, I think. Experiencing the world alone seems lonely and one-sided and I long for a companion on my journey. But I know that chapter is closed and I have to face this portion of my story singularly. That is unless someone has a job or lifestyle that would allow them to hop on a plane on a whim, in that case contact me and I’ll add you as my travel companion. Honestly though, I’m slowly learning how to get out alone and not feel so awkward about being alone.
- Documenting my experiences. I’ve trained myself to see photography as something that reaches deeper and more meaningfully into myself than snapping a photo, slap on a filter or a gif, add a couple #’s, and some seemingly inspiration words of text.
With knowing this, I’ve begun to see my cellphone camera as a way of documenting things that have meaning for me, but that I’m not conveying some deeper sense other than the aesthetic qualities. Things like tourist photos, giving into the selfie culture, and thinking of those snapshots as a visual scrapbook for myself in reflecting.
So, despite the summer flying and rush approaching, I’ve going to find moments to explore what small glimpses I am afforded of the cities and countries. Small moments, like a short walk to a café or a jog down to a park, or an uber ride to a nearby thrift story to glimpse the stories of others who were there before me. Who knows, the trip I got by chance to Amsterdam or Rome or that one I picked up to Bogota or Narita might be the only time I visit there!
