Weve all heard experiences over things. Memories over wealth. As someone whos traveled many years i feel in some ways experiences themselves can become a sort of materialism.
An always needing more cycle.
I reflect on my 20s. Those were a times of nomadic lifestyles, of travel and exploration. I reflect how those days had alot of no regrets philosophies. Yet i cant help at time to project to those days. Could they have been different. Could i have done differently. Is it possible to regret having a mindset of no regrets.
I feel i woke up today, was born today, only have today. The places ive been feel more like stories ive read in a book rather than experiences i lived. I feel none of them last the test of time, even memories. I have photos, friends from those days, it all feels like a piece of life that i have to convince or remind myself that it really happened.
Was i traveling to escape society, a 9-5, being in the same place. Was i trying to escape the life i am living today? Was i demonizing it, condemning it, bad mouthing it. I feel like finally im living the many things i didnt have while traveling. Chances to read, not spend so much time on buses or trains. Eat well. This 9-5 life is a culmination of my unmet needs during and after travel.
I cant use my past travels as a form of currency that i can cash today. It was an experience, planted in those days, that exists there. Today i have a blank slate. I feel like in some ways ive never traveled at all.
I dont have much urgency for a vacation somewhere. I feel pretty content here now. Hard to accept such stark contrast of ideology to old me, but this is it. I want that again, but more so i want a base, a foundation, and to go from there.
Anywho, are experiences the new materialism? Maybe…i felt when i traveled europe i thought more countries was more valuable then less. Today i wonder if one country could have taught me more about variety then going to 10. We can see 1000 things, but if the seer never changes, that is a loss. The ability to grow as a human is the point. Today my growth is very much more civilized and societal. I appreciate that. More of the world is like this then the world traveler i was then. I feel more connected to humanity doing this now rather than traveling more. Work is my new passion. Local is my new travel. A close community is my new exotic.
Living in Free Fall 