MY SEARCH FOR TERRA NOVA

Beekman Bacardi Mojito

Here I am on the road again, craving it and fearing it at the same time.   With such a short turn around time between my last trip to Greenville and going to Boston, I wasn't able to actually sit down, think about and analyze my recent travel experiences. I will write about it soon but now, I would like to focus about the contradiction the travel experience creates for me... 

When I travel or are about to leave for a new destination my emotions often take over my rationality. At least for a while... The seltzer of excitement and anticipation of a new is poured over with the double shot of fear and stirred well with mulled leaves of fresh anxiety. I taste this delicious mojito drink every time it had out of door! It is because I know what a great time I'm going to have and because I know how many things could go wrong. The battle of known and unknown, expected and unexpected, comfortable and uncomfortable is about to begin!



I think the meaningful travel is about stepping out of your comfort zone and experiencing and dealing with things outside of your normal daily habits. The daily routines keep our learning and discovering life on an automatic drive, commanding our mind and senses to mundane tasks and dull tastings. When our mind gets bored... we crave to change our venue and provide it with fresh unknown reality to explore. The old-self, physical and emotional part, wants to hold on to comfort and safety that every day routines provide, but the mind and the spirit want and need more to go on, and they are willing to sacrifice comfort and safety in order to revive discovery and self-search.

P. Bertius "Map of Newfoundland Coast", Amsterdam, 1598-1608
Source: Jonathan Potter Maps

I go because I want to discover things for myself even though they were discovered by many others. I always wonder if there is any travel left today where one could still go on an expedition of uncharted territory, the TERRA NOVA? Probably scientific research could provide such experiences, or maybe possibly the competition-like record-oriented expeditions, but just because my travel-oriented discoveries don't contribute to the greater knowledge of human species it doesn't mean that it doesn't contribute to MY knowledge and understanding of the world. 

Such selfish experience of enriching my mind through travel is as valid as any other research-based discovery that will benefit a larger group. It can have a major influence on our creative production, what we think, how we interact with other people and influence our community when we get back from our journeys. 

I know from my own personal experience that it doesn't matter the distance I traveled - I'm never the same person when I return home. I just discovered my Terra Nova and my mind is trying to process all the information I have discovered. The real question is... what am I going to do with it?