How to find passion as a traveller when you’re not travelling
I’ve been having some crazy introspective thoughts lately. And it feels unreal that less than 7 weeks ago I was living in Albania, a 60 second walk away from the Ionian Sea. I was doing a housekeeping volunteer exchange, while keeping up with my freelance work, exploring the surrounding town and living with an Aussie gal I had just met less than a month ago.
This mini high in my life, the buzz, excitement and adrenaline rush travel gives you, often disappears when taking a break or being “home” (wherever you determine this is) for a while.
What is this feeling when you stop travelling?
What you should know, is this anti-climatic lull you feel when coming back from travel is NORMAL. No one surrounding you knows your stories or how you’ve just lived your life, and the mundane tasks of a familiar place may feel repetitive and uninspiring unlike how you had to navigate even the local language at a grocery store a few weeks ago.
The familiarity on the flip side is comforting. You can drive, bike ride or walk without having to look up directions. You know your favourite food spot when you’re craving take out and most likely you have familiar faces to see in person vs. on a video call.
At times I laugh a bit of myself when working on my travel content that I used to live a lifestyle / job that had me leaving my accommodations constantly interacting with people, discovering everything new around me and feeling alive. It’s been difficult not to have this, and I’m here to help you figure out how to stay motivated until your next travel journey.
How do you find passion when not travelling as a full-time traveller?
If you know you won’t be going on any long-term travel in the next period of time (weeks, months, years), find yourself a new project, passion or commitment. For me, and suprising to even myself, I’ve committed to running a 10km in about 8 weeks time. If that seems like an easy distance to you, let me tell you at the start of my training I couldn’t even run 30 mins straight without walking.
What this has allowed me to do is chose a new location every time I am running to explore the beautiful parks, tracks, lakes, reservoirs and neighbourhoods within my city, Calgary. I’ve incorporated some cross training on my bicycle choosing new breweries, cafes and food places as a destination to ride my bike to.
You could say I’m a puppy in training, super food motivated, but hey, if it gets me outside, activate, helping my mental health and feeling the mini high of life that travel gives me. I’m all for it! I encourage you to find a passion, project or commitment that has you rediscovering your home base as a tourist. What hidden gems await for you, how can you find something unique you wouldn’t have otherwise experienced?
Oh and releasing my latest YouTube video after a month of not publishing has me buzzed to keep grinding into the editing seat and sharing more! We’re not going to let imposter syndrome get in my way!