If you’re a traveler who’s on to thinking about your next adventure before you even finish your first one, COVID may have put a stop to your plans. As an avid explorer and traveler, I never imagined myself surviving without going on trips and adventures. Before facing the wrath of the pandemic, I used to travel at least once every three or four months, visiting new destinations, seeing different sights, and trying out delicious foods. My career of selling honeymoon packages makes travel a wonderful necessity for my life and business. As countries began introducing travel bans and stay-at-home orders, places on my bucket list went into total lockdown. Consequently, I found myself in a tricky situation as I had no idea what to do or look forward to.
But the hope that I will soon travel again kept me going during that weird quarantine phase, which was the worst. Being a traveler made me realize that I should try to take the current pandemic situation as another travel destination and a new experience. The only difference this time was that I was stuck in one spot. There’s a lot that I realized and learned about myself during the pandemic as a traveler. These were all the lessons I learned during my traveling, and I started to apply them to my current situation slowly. I’d like to share some of that with you below.
I Learned to Remain Cool and Calm
It was quite normal and evident to get stressed and frustrated during the pandemic, especially knowing that you’re stuck in the house and can’t do anything right now. At times, even I would get frustrated, but as a traveler, when you want something, the only way to achieve it is by keeping your cool. There are many instances where I almost missed my bus or an event, and this would make me very angry.
But by reacting to it in a harsh way, there was no finding an alternative. This would only make the situation worse. To avoid making quarantine any worse, I learned to remain calm and patient and do whatever it took to get over the feeling of frustration and uncertainty during the pandemic.
I Learned to Remain Thankful and Grateful
During one of my trips, I came across a few people who kept a journal with them wherever they went. I have always been a big photographer and recorded all of my trips (even an underwater camera to capture my adventures in the ocean) but had never kept a journal to go with my pictures. I noticed that they kept writing something down whenever they came across a new attraction. I asked what they would write down, and they said it was the thing they were grateful for. That was truly inspiring.
Since the pandemic started, to keep my hopes alive and avoiding negative thoughts, I would write down the things I was grateful for each morning. After all, the pandemic brought suffering in the form of unemployment, sickness, and financial insecurity, and many people faced it. Fortunately, I had the luxury to not even get sick and have a proper home to quarantine in.
Learned to Surround Myself with Things That Make Me Happy
Traveling bought much happiness to my life, and it made me grow as a more positive person. Whenever you travel, you want to be among the best places and people, especially when you’re in a foreign country. Surrounding yourself with things and people that make you feel comfortable also makes you feel happy.
Everything about traveling made me feel happy. This feeling made me realize that I must continue to surround myself with things that instill a sense of peace, even if I’m just stuck at home. Things such as my pets, food, my favorite TV show, and FaceTiming my friends and family helped me remain happy during one of the most uncertain times of the year. This is something that helps reduce feelings of discomfort and sadness, but it really helped me during the pandemic.
I Learned About the Importance of Meditation
Sometimes, even traveling can drain you out, and there were moments where I just felt so exhausted and wanted to come back home. This would happen a lot during my hiking trips, but thankfully, I learned how to meditate, and it really helped me regain my energy and do everything in a relaxed way.
Moving mediation helped me during the pandemic, and it helped keep my mind clear and active. I realized that mediation is extremely important and makes a huge difference in how you react throughout the day.
Final Words
As you can see, there is a lot I learned as a lifelong traveler, and all my experiences during my traveling days kept me going during the pandemic. Yes, there were moments where I felt super low and hopeless, but after some time, I would remind myself of how blessed I am and how there is so much more out there to explore. Traveling is an essential part of life, and my business. Everything I do from my blog posts to my social media marketing strategy revolve around travel. But it doesn’t always refer to moving from one place to another. Rather, it also includes making the journey from one state of mind to another.