Met a guy from Brazil who has quit his job and has been travelling the world for the last three years. Has been to 72 countries, spends 3+ months in each, has a successful Airbnb business on the side that funds all of this. I just went “wow’ in my head. What an absolute dream life! Towards the end of the conversation, I started cribbing about going back and told him how lucky he was.. He went “I don’t feel the same joy in travel anymore, I have seen so many caves and so many beaches, the delta happiness has reduced” He went on to say “Enjoy your suffering while you have it, that’s what makes the special moments special” Turns out the brain adapts to everything. Even paradise. We need the bad to feel joy in the great.
Reminds me of this scene in The Good Place where everyone in paradise is bored because it never ends 🤓
Travel Fatigue is something which only people who travel frequently would understand. Over the last 18 months, I've been to 40+ places and honestly, even I'm starting to feel the same. You will start to see patterns and your mind will say "Ohh, I've seen something like this before" and after sometime, it gets repetitive and exhaustive. You will not get that wow factor, that eyes lighting up which happened on your first few trips. Your mind will constantly compare a scenic view to something else you've seen somewhere else. For example, The Western Ghats in India offers some of the most scenic views but once you've been to the Himalayas couple of times, you won't be able to enjoy western ghats the same way because your mind is constantly comparing your current experiences with the experiences of past a.k.a your experiences in the Himalayas. It is really important to take control of your feelings and let go of that constant urge to compare. Only then, you'll be able to truly live, enjoy and cherish your present pleasant experiences.
We only feel joy in passing when we have failed first, that's so true..
Nice - I comprehend it in a different way - too much of anything is not good. Take for instance a romantic relationship - where you give too much of love , so much so you are clingy calling it love may not sit well - too much space , lack of communication leads to distance between the two -Obsession with parents ( Indian context) leads to interference and not able to build your life - Too distant from parents / family , wanting to do everything as a nuclear family kills the support of the family fabric when you need them Etc etc etc - I am reading it as importance to Har balance in how one lives- it need not be equal at all times but it can be tilted to one side for long .
Also, spending 3+ months in 72 countries equals 18 yrs of traveling. LinkedIn is slowly dying.
The best place to be is in the present. If you can learn to enjoy the present, whatever it is, you'll live a happy life. Your mind is always chasing a future or crying about something in the past, but count your blessings in the present. You've worked hard to get to where you are now as well. And if you want even more joy, help someone in need, make someone else feel nice, make someone laugh if you can. That's how you take care of your soul. Traveling also helps your soul. To take care of your mind, read and learn. To take care of your body, eat right, workout. To take care of your emotions, spend time with good people, listen to quality music, meditate or engage in hypnosis, and get sufficient rest.
Spent 3+ months in each and travelled to 72 countries for 3 years. Am I missing anything? Should it be 12, right?
Grass-is-greener on the other side When you’ve hustled most of your life, the hustle itself becomes part of what gives the highs their meaning. Take it away, and even paradise can start to feel flat.
Everything has a boiling/saturation point - be it pain or pleasure. In medicine, the patient's self-rated VAS (visual analog scale) to measure pain is 0-10 with scale 0 being no pain and scale 10 being the worst pain no human can endure. Applying this same scale logic to good things and pleasures in life, we can deduct that the Brazilian guy has now reached HIS scale of 10 in travel adventures and pleasures. About brain adapting to everything, this is true: When you watch (warning - very graphic content) videos of pack of wild dogs hunting, the attacked prey initially wiggles and struggles and later at one point, it has NO pain meaning it reaches the ultimate scale 10 pain which itself acts as a numbing anesthetic - it just sits there being consumed live, with its brain having adapted to the climax level of pain, before it dies!
In my early twenties, I travelled to 35+ countries mostly for work/studies/leisure and at some point I felt exactly what you described. The excitement of constant travelling and exploring new places had quietly flattened. I later chose stability and routine, and ironically this new way of life brought the joy of travel back again. Now, even one or two trips a year feel far more exciting and meaningful.