I took this job six months ago, knowing that it would involve some pretty extensive travel. I had this romantic vision of jetting around the world, seeing new places and things. Having adventures. Not suprisingly, it hasn't matched the hype.
It's not that I *haven't* been jetting around the world, seeing new places, and having adventures. It's just that I didn't fully appreciate the downsides. Turns out that this is far different from leisure travel. It's tiring, stressful, and sometimes just plain inconvenient. And something else I didn't even anticipate.
Travelling by yourself is lonely.
True, I've strolled the beaches of the south pacific and the avenues of Paris. And that's cool and all. But I've done it alone. And it's not as much fun when there's noone to share the experiene with; to discuss what you've seen and plan your next step; or to laugh with or get a little wild and crazy.
I mean, it's been over a day since I've exchanged more than three sentences with anyone. I hear other people tell crazy stories about how they meet people on the road. How they cross paths with other groups of travellers for an hour or an afternoon. Maybe it's just me. Maybe introverts just aren't cut out to be world travellers.
Anyway ... gonna try to get some sleep before things kick in in the morning.
2 comments:
Awww. Next time you stroll the beaches of the South Pacific or the avenues of Paris (and ESPECIALLY the avenues of Paris), um, you could ask one of your lovely friends to stow away in your suitcase? ;)
Despair not, my friend. This is something you'll be glad you did someday, if only for the realizations you mentioned in your post, or the comfort you'll take in knowing you're happy to stay home with your people rather than jet setting around on your own. Meanwhile, have enough fun for the rest of us. I, for one, am living vicariously through you!! :)
It is good to do a traveling job atleast once in one's career. It completely wipes out the envy that one may have had prior to the experience for other business traveleres at the airport. Instead you start to feel sympathy for them. But that is not to say that just because it is no tourist trip and at times lonely, one shouldn't do it at all. The experiences "build character". Make you interesting. Do it for a few years so that you'll have stories to tell in the rest. "It is good for you" :)
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