Travel at Home

Personally, I am excited by the planning, thinking, and doing of vacation planning, whether with others or by myself, for adventure or to relax. I recognize that is not a universal reaction. So, here’s my proposal for sampling this scheme, with minimal stress.

It involves your mind, more than any action. Are you willing to open, to stretch your mind? Or, at least to try it? Ok, then, pick a comfortable chair, sit down, relax, and imagine that you are in a new place, even though it’s actually your own home. You are surrounded outside of your home by people you’ve never met, by restaurants you’ve never entered, by foods you’ve never eaten, by new experiences, waiting to be sampled.

Do you feel the beginning of excitement or perhaps a little fear? Either is fine, because it means you’re allowing yourself to open, to stretch. Let’s continue.

Think of something that you’ve considered doing, but not allowed yourself to consider seriously. It might be as simple as having a conversation with a person who you cross paths with occasionally, but don’t really talk to. It might be trying a different restaurant, maybe even by yourself. It might be taking a local train to a destination where you usually go in your car. It might be getting a ticket to a show, if you never attend performances or plays. What matters is that it’s something you want to do, but haven’t allowed yourself to even consider.

It’s my theory that when we vacation, we change our mindset and automatically become more open. Although, even on vacation, we often follow our own patterns, creating new routines that we then follow, for example, returning to the same vacation spot and the same restaurants year after year. It’s human nature to want the comfort of routine and to create it when it’s lacking. It’s also human nature to avoid stretching, unless pushed. That’s why we sign up at clubs and gyms, to create situations where we are ‘forced’ to stretch. It’s both our bodies and our minds that benefit from stretching.

Let me describe a recent experience, when I stretched. A friend recently initiated a ‘death cafe,’ where people were invited to meet to discuss death, grieving, and any related topic. We met once a month at a cafe in Rockport, about a forty minute drive for me, mostly people I didn’t know. It happened that the cafe was located right next to the train station. So, after a few months of driving to the cafe, I decided to take the train from the station only a half-mile from my home. The MBTA timing meant I would arrive ten minutes early and leave fifteen minutes before the group ended.

These details may not seem relevant, but somehow, the change from my usual routine made it feel like an adventure for me! Of course, I was also saving fossil fuel and, as a climate activist, that matters to me.

Tonight, the winter solstice, I look forward to another adventure: the solstice service at my local First Baptist Church. As a Quaker, I don’t typically attend other church services, other than weddings and funerals, but this solstice service calls to me. I go, expecting another adventure!

So, plan an adventure, a simple one, from your own home. Feel the excitement or the fear and take it on! . . . .

Stretch. . . . . . . . . Try it. . . . . . . Stretch.

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