Bought a flight, packed my bags, kissed my girlfriend goodbye and left (let’s pretend I have a girlfriend for dramatic purposes). Asia, what a beautiful world in itself. Absurdly enormous, dimensions get all fucked up there. Saw so many different realities and different perspectives, either within myself or with the world around me. Got tired of the food in Indonesia, always the same Mie Goreng and Nasi Goreng rice and noodles. Changed and experienced personal growth at a level I had never imagined to be possible. Gained the ability to read minds and shoot lasers out of my eyes. Travelling really does bring it all. Travelling opened my eyes to a world outside of my own and made me enter it. And then I came back.
Coming back
Everything was fun and exciting when I was away. Everything seemed different and I thought I had surpassed many of the problems I used to have back home, I thought I was going to get everything sorted out, have an amazing routine, fix all of my relationships, start this very newsletter (Took me about a month from the moment I returned). I returned home and my expectations were crushed. Because everything around me was completely the same. Every detail about home was the same, the people around me didn’t change one bit, I still had the same cues for bad habits. Only that now I was much more aware of it and a different person. For the first time in my life, I was seriously disturbed about not fitting in in the place I had always lived.
Solution
How did I solve it? Funny thing, I didn’t. I’m about to shoot myself and this is a suicide note. Humor. Luckily, I didn’t travel alone so I always had a friend who was basically going through the same and had other friends who were also doubting everything around them, so I could still find meaningful relationships within all of this. And it also hit me. I had learnt so much during my trip. Why not use those new insights to improve my life back home. And so I tried. I tried to avoid environments, people and social events where I felt a desire to return to a ‘worse’ version of myself, I tried having a light view over life, reducing all seriousness. And funnily enough, it has been working. I’m still not doing everything I wanted to do, I’m certainly very far away from it, but just cutting out the negative parts of my life was a huge step to overcoming either the post travel sickness or some of the problems I used to have.
Conclusion
Probably the biggest challenge I have faced while travelling, but like so many others, there’s always a solution. And also, the more you face this types of difficulties the more you grow, it’s all part of the travelling experience. So, if you’re facing or have faced something similar, make sure to contact me and talk to me about it, as I would love to hear different experiences on this.
I’ll also introduce myself. My name is Gonçalo and I’m currently on a Gap Year. I have been strongly influenced by a friend, the creator of the Multiverse of Happiness (no name for you sir ;) ) and Ali Abdaal to start writing online as a way of creating and exposing myself. I’ll talk about personal experiences, make movie and content recommendations and write about whatever comes to mind. Hope you enjoy it and stick around! :)