This is where it gets personal. People asked what I got out of my travels. This is a decent sampling of some of the big shifts that happened to my outlook on life:
Through simplicity one can find peace, calm, and happiness. By living with what I had in the car, living off of very little, enjoying each day as it came, planning and worrying about nothing, spending tons of time hiking through nature, having very little if not nothing I had to do, I found true peace. Cooking over a campfire for 3 hours was a beautiful way to spend the night. A simple kind of life. We're missing something in our society, with the business of everything, the schedules, the todo lists, etc. There's peace out there, blissful silence, it's well within our reach. Grab it.
In living on the road I was separate from the world, the news both good and bad, I became more myself and less what the world wanted, or affected me, to be. Prior to this trip I had my armor, my shields to keep the harmful things out, to keep myself safe. I've since let go of such protections, I found I didn't need them. In coming back to the world, my goal is to continue to let things pass through me, to remain open to life, its experiences, the people, everything. They won't affect me, and I won't block them out. I'll not hold on to things as they pass through, or judge, or let them sink in - they'll just come and go. Detachment.
We are raised to be effective members of society, educated, encouraged to get degrees, etc. - all so that we can have successful careers. Make lots of money. We're raised to believe that this success is the only way to attain happiness. Somewhere we went wrong, it's not the size of your house or your bigscreen TV, it's not what clothes you buy or how nice a car you drive. We waste money in this country, especially in cities like Atlanta. The whole world of advertising encourages it. Buy this to be cool, in, happy, respected, better looking, etc. By continuing this pattern, the country and the society grows (financially) strong - or at least it evolves, which is great for the nation. But in the process, we lose ourselves. We lose touch with who we really are inside, and the true definition of success. Which is being who we choose to be, doing what we choose to do, where we want to do it, and with who we want. Instead we sacrifice things, most costly is our time on this earth, to our jobs. We sell out. Anyone who believes time is money has sold their time. We as individuals need to find our own peace, our own happiness. We need to dedicate more time to ourselves than 2-3 weeks of vacation a year. It's your life! Take it back!
We live in a world of 24/7 grocery stores, immediate access to everything; convenience they call it. But we make little time for ourselves, or our families. When did spending 2-3 hours a day sitting in traffic become acceptable? When did postponing your house work til the weekend, and postponing your free time to that rare annual vacataion, become ok? When did we agree to give these things up? In other countries many businesses close for lunch and dinner so that the employees can spend time with their families. It's not about pleasing the customer, it's about living life "right." They take 2+ hour lunches with friends, they socialize, and not over fast food. There's no rush. Come back to yourself. When you hush the noises of the outside world, you can finally be at peace with yourself.
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