It's All Just a Show

Why do we travel? To run away, to escape, to search for some meaning, to amuse ourselves, to get out of boredom, to find out what we want, to meet other people, to see the world, to find a way, to find love…and it all boils down to I. I is you and me. I is we and we are fragile. We need some education, validation, and confirmation. We travel to search for other Is. I am this, I am that, I am. Our environment defined what we are, and we claimed to have defined ourselves when in reality, we are just replicating other Is. We claimed to be unique, to be special, but we are not. When I meet another I, I talk to the other I based on my limited views and upbringing. When other Is don't fit my illusion, they become others. And when I hurt I, I become hostile. I protect I. The problem starts.

I have. What’s in the travelers’ kit? 65L Deuter backpack, Northface jacket, quick dry towels, iPhone, fancy trekking boots, Ray Ban, MacBook Air, a bag full of special privileges, a passive income, inherited wealth, Dollars, Euros, a powerful passport...things!

We are traveling consumerists of the world, a walking advertisement. Did we quit our jobs to escape from our petty problems? We travel where we don't belong until we don't feel special anymore. We come back to the comfort of Mum and Dad's home. How convenient!

We go around on our motorbikes in Bali, in Bangkok? For what, to meet other travelers who did the same? To speak the same language to the same people. Don't be snobby and entitled. Learn another language, learn a difficult one. Make friends with people who are not from the same type of environment. Live their lives, feel their pain. Get out of your comfort zone. Be a real traveler.

I don't care about what you think. Forget about the I. Forget about impressing other Is. Think for yourself. Free-thinking is free. Think free.

Then we go write about how we have traveled in the same places. Repeat other blogs, become another version of travel reviews. Republish Lonely Planet. Let go of your fears and insecurities masked as labels and titles. Stop marketing the I. Write what you really think and feel. WRITE.

The beat generation is over, traveling Che is dead. We need a new generation of people who really pay attention to the world. Pay attention to the world, now is your chance. You are no longer watching the pain, inequality and social issues from a distance. Feel it, think about it, do something about it. What's your take?

We sit around the bar at night after visiting waterfalls and museums. Now, what do we talk about? How we sold our belongings so we can afford to buy fancy travel gear to travel to countries where people can't afford to travel? We'll talk about where to go the next day. Where's the party? This is how we do it, oh it is like this in that. We talk about where we are from. When we get drunk, we defend it.

Generalization makes sense sometimes. People can be so predictable, so conditional. Save yourselves some time and energy to find really unique individuals. They can be somewhere or they can be dead.

Fiji, Mongolia, Mauritius, Guatemala, Nauru, Kyrgyzstan, Palau... There are other countries in the world. Go where everyone doesn't go to. Cannot afford? Sell your backpack, lose things. You don't need that much. What you need is your mind, your heart, your soul. Getting out of the comfort zone is not only about culture shock. It is your mentality during difficult situations. Your attitude. Laugh, cry, be angry - feel it all. Be outside of your comfort zone for real. Grow.

What are we then? Traveling crap of the world, finding our own special place in this vast universe?

To travel is good, it is a choice. A privilege. It is not quintessential to a meaningful life. We need to create a life we don't need to escape from anymore. To belong. In the end, it is better to be kind than to defend the I.

The show is ending any minute. Make the most of it.