Traveling abroad can be a pretty jarring experience at first. The nature of travel is getting out of what is familiar and comfortable (your routine) and putting yourself in a place that is foreign and unknown. No matter who you are, this is going to bring a certain level of discomfort.
I think it’s that discomfort that tends to scare some people away from traveling in the first place. They get scared and overwhelmed to the point where they don’t want to deal it. So they stay home, or they go to the same vacation spot, or they go somewhere new and do exactly what they would do at home anyways.
This is not inherently a bad thing. Routine is a powerful tool that is needed to accomplish things at a higher level. If you had to find a new grocery store every time you wanted to shop, suddenly picking up grapefruits just became a whole lot harder. I would go so far as to say shunning routine completely is not only dangerous but a waste of time as well.
On the flip side, routine can be an avoidance pattern too. We use it to justify everything from what districts we go out in, what bars we try, and what places we visit. What we are missing here is the opportunity cost we pay when we continue to do the same thing. I actually think this is where a lot of people struggle; we are so used to routines that we use them as a tool to eradicate discomfort. Don’t do that.
Discomfort is where you grow. It’s where you challenge yourself to do more and learn more. The world honestly doesn’t give a crap who you are or where you are in life. The fact is that “discomfort” is where the work happens. The more you do something that is uncomfortable, the more it will become comfortable, and then finally it will be time to move the bar forward again. That is what us nerds call “Leveling up”. That is growth. That is personal development. So if you avoid discomfort, you are essentially robbing yourself of the chance to grow. What a shame.
I can hear it now – “Bryan, WTF does this have to do with my Euro trip this summer?”
This mindset and how much you can enjoy discomfort is intimately correlated with the experience of your travel. The more you can align yourself with this mindset of embracing discomfort, the more possibilities will open up. My best stories are never from the time I rode the tourist bus around whatever city. It is always the time I took a risk and did something uncomfortable and maybe bordering on crazy sometimes. It’s a beautiful thing to do something maybe a bit wild and end up with a cool story.
For those who want the TL;DR; it’s essentially this:
Instead, I encourage you to take a moment today and ask yourself “Am I uncomfortable enough?”
Cheers
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