Experience fully
Experience fully is great life advice whether you’re travelling or not. If you are travelling or going on holiday then experiencing as much as you can is surely essential. Or is it? Is it more important to experience some things fully rather than filling your time away with as much as you can?
Have you ever saved up up your money for a dream trip, had lots on your bucket list for that week or 2 weeks, seen as much as you could, experienced all those activities the guidebook advised and taken all the photos/ selfies you could possible wished to take? Then when you got home, how much of that trip have you remembered? What do you know about the culture from that place? If you didn’t have those photos/selfies, would you have any memories to talk about?
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Often, we are quick to rush around ticking off items from a list to say ‘yes, we did that’ but who are we doing that for? Is it so we can show off and tell people we’ve been to a place, oh and yes we saw that amazing thing which is listed as a must-see.
So how about we start to experience life/ travel fully? Why not take our time to really feel something and take everything in, listen during those conversations rather than rushing to talk, take time to stop and look up, look down, look to each side and look back as well as looking ahead and take time to breathe.
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Next time you make plans to visit somewhere, maybe cut down your to do list into half of the things you first thought of doing, take time to do 1 or 2 things fully rather than rushing through 5 or 6 places, think about the photos you really want to take which will help you remember key moments or attractions rather than just going for quantity and ask yourself is this selfie really necessary? do I need one in every position? Am I showing respect to this monument in the way I am posing and if the answer is no then stop that pose or selfie immediately.
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If you travel with someone then talk to them about what you have seen, how you have felt about what you have visited already and what else you want to cover during the next days.
Taking a walk around the city or choosing a themed walk can really help you experience as much as you can by doing such a relaxing and thoughtful activity. As you walk along, take in all the sights, notice the smells, listen to the locals around you and if you get the chance, then interact with them. All of that and more goes towards experiencing things fully.
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If you rush around just getting the key photos to show off on your Instagram then what have you really experienced? In a few weeks what will you remember? So instead, have those conversations, stop and breathe, engage with yourself and your feelings and take time to notice what is going on around you. Discuss what you saw and felt with someone else and take the time to make note of everything so you experience fully in the moment but can also remember it all later.
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