The actual journey of traveling — Part 1
Find the meaning of life
Listening to the beautiful voice of nature. Laying your body to the tree on the grass and close your eyes, feel the vibes of nature. The wind flows touching your body and brushing your hair gently. Birds sing around the trees and river flows calm your mind. Your body and mind become light and relaxed until fused with nature.
You can imagine and feel it right? That’s the sound of peace. 100% of people who read this article can feel calm and peaceful when imagining nature, and that’s normal. For me, personal traveling will be part of my self-finding journey that I didn’t regret at all. Every person has a different purpose for traveling. Certainly, that different purpose leads to every decision in life. For me, when I decided to take my journey through traveling it was the best decision I’ve ever made in my life. Just have encouragement and curiosity as a beginner. In my mind, I just want to explore and have a journey to find myself.
It’s a pleasure when you can beat your limit. It turns your narrow perspective to a wide open mind because you can see what you couldn’t see before. From curious to addicted to traveling. What I want to share is a priceless journey that can determine you as a human. What you can get and learn from traveling. Maybe I’m not traveling around the world yet, but from my journey, I can directly know what my purpose in life is and what should I do forward my future.
1. Curious is a gift
It’s a treasure when you have a curious side in your character. As long as it is positive curiosity just follow your instinct. Curious is an early point to open the dictionary of the world. Being curious can help you to dig more and more into what you are concerned about. Because I like to read National Geographic, my curiosity helps me to find out what’s inside it, and how it feels to be part of it. From that curiosity, it dragged me to gain more knowledge and in my mind, I said I should experience it.
After I bring my curiosity into real experience, I feel more happy and peaceful. There’s a feeling that I can say here, the feeling that you should deep dive into a journey that could bring you to find yourself. From curious to real experience, worth trying.
2. Break your limit, be brave!
One of the characters you should unlock from you is Brave. The ability to encourage yourself to surround the world you didn’t imagine before. They encourage us to be able to seek uncomfortable situations in hard moments. This one should learn time by time not only for precious time, but through dedication and patience.
I remember when I traveled to East Java to find a hidden waterfall. Just bring my backpack and maps. Asking strangers where the place is. The wrong route, wrong direction, and the wrong place was a moment where I almost surrendered. But, I look back and contemplate how can I miss this if I can go this far. With a lot of thinking and trust in my gut, I continue this journey. The best story was when I arrived at the place I had to climb the hills around 6 km away. And I really couldn’t find the waterfall. There was an intersection that should I choose. Rather than choose I go for each way, the first way is nearly to get me lost in the woods. The more obstacles, and more ways to climb up, and I didn’t see anything except the savannah.
I found a tiny water flow. Maybe it could help me to find the waterfall, but it didn’t show up. I decided to go back to the intersections, but I forgot the way. I step to the rock that almost brings me to the ravine. Near-death experience because at that moment I should go home to my family. Thinking is a must to choose from this situation. We must not panic and keep calm. Fortunately, I the way out and back to the main intersections. Nobody in that hills, just me, the nature, and my mind. After a long journey, finally I found a waterfall with beautiful scenery. A small waterfall with a green pond worth swimming around. The best moment to relax after a storm hit.
It’s going to be a different story if I don’t dare to take the journey and step forward to find the waterfall. I should quit at that moment, but with courage in my mind, I should go home with a beautiful story to bring to the table.
3. Talk to strangers? Why not?
This one is very privileged when you have time to talk with strangers. Like a quote “Shy to ask, misguided path” if we don’t talk to other people then we miss all the chance to get our purpose. Talking with strangers or local people while we were traveling, it’s like writing a new chapter in our book. Because maybe there are a lot of stories and meaningful lessons in our journey. It’s nothing to lose in talking with strangers or local people. Don’t build high boundaries around us to them, be open like an empty glass to fill in, and don’t think negatively about the people we meet in our journey. Just be honest and think positive and let the world do the rest.
It’s happening when I travel to Tasikmalaya, West Java. I couldn’t call my friend because he was too busy and I didn’t know where to sleep overnight at that time. It happens when I take a journey to Kampung Naga, when I’m done there I take a moment to travel to small villages near Kampung Naga by hitting a local bus. Enjoy every scenery on the bus. A mountain, the wind blows, and cold air comes in filling my bus. Then I had a small conversation with an old man named Mr. Tatang. He asked me where I go, but I answered I didn’t know where to go. I just said I want to go to a small village near a mountain so I can take a relaxation in the morning. Fortunately, he said that he comes from that village.
After a short conversation, he asked me who I met there, and I said no one and I didn’t know where to sleep at night. Luckily, he asks me to sleep in his house. A beautiful gift that god gives me to meet good people. I was shocked at that moment because when we arrived I couldn’t imagine how beautiful the village would be when the sun came down and dived inside the earth. A small way, a full path of grass, and chicken around the house. A small house surrounded by trees. Inside the house, he introduces me to his wife Mrs. Tatang. They said when he looks at me he reminds me of his son when young. His son now has a beautiful family and lives in a town far from his hometown.
We have a great dinner and they welcome me as a family. He talks about the villages, the culture, and the people nearby. After dinner, I decided to sleep. In the morning I couldn’t believe it because when I opened the window, it was the most beautiful experience I’ve ever had. A small house near the mountain. So, I can see a clear sky, sunrise, and a mountain just from my window. After waking up, we had breakfast with local food and a cup of tea. Long short story after strolling around the village, I decided to come back home and we had the best time to regret.
