中国有句古话：“读万卷书不如行万里路”. It is an old Chinese saying equivalent to “The most valuable lessons in life can never be expressed in black and white, but must be experienced”
I never thought I could just pick up a bag, take my car and disappear. But now looking back, I couldn’t have been more thankful as it was probably one of the best decisions I made in recent years.
life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all–Helen Keller
In university, you get a false perception that everything of importance can be found in books. But actually, many things in life are very hard to put in black and white. There is a reason why many agree that experience is the greatest teacher of all.
I was lucky enough that when I quit my old job, the lease was also about to expire so I took advantage of the situation at the time; hired a storage unit and moved my man cave into it within a day, booked a ferry ticket the same night, took my car and disappear from the city the next day. From then on, for a period of three months I was constantly on the move, from one backpacker to another, one camp to the next, one city to a new one…….This traveling/backpacking experience opened up my eyes and had me lived in a different world that forced me to think and reevaluate what’s important,what to value more and how to live the life I wanted to live. It was a priceless lesson that I think every individual with the opportunity should attend. As Buddha saids: “There are only two mistakes one can make along the road to truth; not going all the way, and not starting.”
Here are the vital lessons traveling taught me: