As with travel, life transitions can be tricky.
When you're traveling and settled in one place, it's comfortable.
When you're living life during a stable period, it, too, is comfortable.
It's those darn transitions that can be challenging. Uncomfortable. And sometimes unnerving.
I have found that challenging myself with travel transitions has made me better at managing those in my life.
The Challenge of Life Transitions
Before starting Solo Traveler I was a freelance content writer. I wrote guides and blog posts for major corporations. It was a good gig. It took years for Solo Traveler to become as financially viable as my writing business. But, Solo Traveler had much more. It had my heart.
Before starting the site, while having this dream job of being a writer (from most people's perspectives), I knew I was in transition. I described it as standing on a bridge. I knew what was behind me but I couldn't see what was on the other side.
Then another major life change bumped into me and I saw the other side. My husband passed away and the grieving process was slow. In addition, my nest was quickly becoming empty.
It's out of that loss and the knowledge that I would be traveling solo, that Solo Traveler was conceived. It resolved both life transitions.
Major life changes are inevitable. From choosing a career to deciding whether or not to have children, there are new chapters of choice. From the unexpected death of a partner to the loss of a job, there are turning points that are thrust upon us. Whether by choice or chance, both are challenging.
Ultimately, we can collapse under such changes or gather our resilience and move forward.
I have found that my travels, those long in the past and those more current, especially the solo trips, have prepared me well to manage life's turning points.
How Solo Travel Delivers Strength to Meet Life Challenges
You can't travel without navigating change.
Whether it's small ones like driving from home to a new destination, or large ones like getting to the airport, through the airport, enduring the flight, going through passport control, getting out of the airport and then to your final destination and your temporary home, travel transitions can be a lot.
Travel requires us to have courage, adapt to new situations, trust ourselves, and put things in perspective. In this post I write about the fundamentals of solo travel safety. It's about putting your safety priorities in perspective.
Specifically, solo travel helps us with life changes by teaching us to:
- Use beginners eyes. We can sometimes get a little too confident and settled in life. This can restrict us from seeing the opportunities in new life challenges. While traveling, we inevitably look at the world as a beginner. It reminds me of the travel quote by Marcel Proust: “The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.” That approach is helpful when taking on a new situation at home.
- Know our abilities. It is in new situations that we can see, and sometimes discover, abilities that we we didn't realize we had.
- Be confident. Exercising these abilities builds confidence with every small win.
- Be flexible. I have not taken a trip that has gone completely as planned. This is actually not that surprising as I am a minimalist when it comes to travel planning. But, whether you plan in detail or are more like me, you will be required to be flexible at some point in your travels and that builds resilience. See Tracey's story, The Importance of Flexibility: 3 Lessons Learned.
- Understand that uncomfortable situations are not permanent. When travel is hard work and then becomes easy because you are stable again, it becomes very clear that the discomfort of transitions is not permanent.
- Gain perspective. Whether it's putting a travel situation in context or gaining insight on a situation at home thanks to being away from it, travel can definitely put life into perspective.
All these learnings, collectively, build the resilience and confidence necessary to take on life's inevitable transitions. Take note of your wins as you travel. They are great souvenirs.
Gain knowledge, skills, and confidence for unforgettable solo adventures: check out Your Ultimate Solo Travel Course.
