Photo: donricardopezzano
For Joshywashington, the longing to travel is reaching pain-inducing levels.
MY ADULT LIFE has been largely defined by my travels. Travel, I’ve found, is what I do best. Whether it is through Washington’s forests or the jungles of Laos, I am happiest and at my most creative when I am traveling.
But now, two years since the last stamp has dried on my passport I pace the room with a melancholy restlessness. It feels like nebulous grieving. The turning of the decade set my desire to get lost somewhere, anywhere, snapping photos, climbing trees, blogging and drinking with locals.
First the longing made me angry. This is bullshit! I protested, I am traveler, not some laptop jockey on a coffee binge! Depression followed anger, moping. Slack faced I pitied myself and riffled through old travel journals and scrapbooks. Digging through my closet, I pull out backpacks, pocket knives and dog-eared phrase books, surrounding myself with the stuff of travel.
Today the sun breaks the monotonous Seattle cloud cover. As I set my feet to soggy pavement something about steam rising off 1st avenue prods me to shed the travel doldrums.
I can still travel. I am traveling, right now. I don’t have to leave the hemisphere or a national boundary (it would nice), I just have to leave my preconceived notions of what travel is and isn’t and step out with traveler’s eyes. There is a strong argument for local travel and god knows I have much to discover about Seattle and the rivers that flow from mountains in three directions.
A feeling this strong can be a very powerful agent for action. But I had to run through these emotions to reach a place of resolve. The longing is still there, stronger than ever. But now I claim it and wait with bags packed.
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How long has it been since you last traveled? How do you deal with the longing to travel? Share your experience in comments please.
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27 Comments... join the discussion!
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We should start a support group! we can hold hands and drink coffee out of little paper cups.
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I’m in! We’ll be the Inconsolable Ex-Travellers. And we get to make fun of people too.
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Good message about traveling in your own hood. Many people think the grass is always greener. And one day, you’ll strap on the backpack again.
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the grass may be greener but the dogs are likely meaner
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I know what you guys are going through.. well kind of.. just not that extreme.
I had to deal with that syndrome a while ago and I buried myself in philosophy books and found myself a hot lover which really took my mind off things.
I don’t think anything can replace exploration if that is what your heart desires but with some things and people you can lose sight of where you are and focus on how you are feeling instead.
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Philosophy and hot nooky, sounds like a recipe I can follow! Thanks for the thoughts…now where’s that Kant?
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-Your article caught my eye, because I’m also suffering with travel withdrawal. I took a break from traveling to work and pay down my college debt, but at times it’s unbearable. The world is so damn and I’m not getting any younger!
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That’s a brilliant perspective, Josh. We’re all traveling, all the time, if we want to be. No matter where we are.
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Cool piece, Josh. I waiver between feeling a sense of adventure at exploring my own backyard to feeling anxiety and depression over staying home. I guess it’s all about perspective. Pain is resistance?
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Thank you for that… PAIN IS RESISTANCE, hit me like a ton of bricks. How can I possibly construct a reality where I am traveling if I am not allowing what is to be, to be?
I think I found a new mantra!
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I am exactly where you are right now, Josh. Not at two years, but still going mad. But Megan is right — pain largely is resistance. I had to surrender to really get to know and fall in love with this quirky, largely conservative, screwed up town I have to live in for a while.
And the surrounding areas of Washington are so gorgeous, I can’t imagine that those trails will ever get truly old. Enjoy while you can. You will miss it later on.
But yes, more passport-stamping travel will eventually come too. I think we just gotta be patient and work hard in the meantime.
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Thanks for your encouragement, It’s hard when the rain never stops falling, but maybe I need to be in this rain for a while…
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Such a great piece. I can definitely relate, especially in January when the temperature dips to -20. Right now the only thing that is getting me through is the anticipation of my next adventure and this site!
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It really does make you angry.
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I am a big fan of local travel. Finding treasures in your backyard is an incredible high on its own. That being said, can´t wait to hit the road/air again!
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And how!
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Travel is a state of mind; just gotta get yer mind in the right state.
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interesting post! I also long to travel with my Mum!!
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Josh thanks for the great post! After a four month backpacking adventure I “settled” back down and started school again this past fall. I often have to convince myself that this was the right decision because I could be happily lost in a foreign country. But who says I’m not traveling right now? Maybe this is still part of the journey!
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This hits home hard, man! College studies have been interrupting my travels – every time I start to fall in love with a new place, the semester starts and I have to fly home.
Thank God I get my degree in a week and will then be able to travel uninhibited!
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Great post! I just got back from a year of traveling and I’m having some troubling settling into a routine. Its important to remember there are interesting and exciting things to see wherever you are.
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Hey Josh and Candice, I’m all for the support group idea…as long as it’s in person, as it would actually require travel considering we are all likely in different places! =)
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I know exactly how you feel. It has been almost 2 years since my 8-month trip abroad and I am still feeling withdrawal. Writing on my blog about all things travel helps a great deal because it keeps me focused on connecting with other people who enjoy travel and I spend less time feeling sad about what I am missing.
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Great article, Josh! I agree 100%
I whined (and felt like a loser) an entire month because I didn’t have the funds to visit South America and Prague, and hated that everyone was going everywhere, until I finally gave up and decided to explore California. And it’s goegeous! I can’t believe I live here and hadn’t seen all that I saw! Local travel isn’t bad at all!↵ -
Traveler’s support group? I am so there. It’s just one way to help me with my travel withdrawals…
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Sign me up for the support group. Being a grad student is torture for a traveler – no time, no money…and for an MA in Enlgish no excuse to go abroad!
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