A Different Kind of Travel Experience

My recent travel experience was very different from past travels.

First, I didn’t take an organized tour. There was no rushing from one tourist spot to another and checking off my list of accomplishments.

Second, this time it was for an entire month in just one location: Pula, Croatia.

The purpose of this trip was to attend Mind Valley University and listen to speakers, attend events and meet people from all over the world. Learning and connecting with new people made up a good portion of my day.

The folks I met inspired me to think about a whole new level of travel.

Some routinely travel without itineraries at all. Some planned another month or two abroad after this event. Some were actually location-independent (meaning they don’t have a home base). They travel with the freedom of a wide-eyed teenager and a backpack, only they replaced it with a laptop and tech-savvy knowledge to keep them in business!

Some families (as in husband, wife and 2 young children) have been doing this vagabond lifestyle for years. They just home-school their children along the way, teaching them lessons they would never learn at school and showing them that the world is indeed the best classroom!

Additional learning came from immersing myself in the local Croatian culture. I learned the idiosyncrasies of their lives — what they eat, how they relax, their transportation system, how they interact with each other and foreigners and basically how they live their lives.

I found the locals to be warm and friendly.

The food was healthy, readily available and inexpensive.

The pace of life was much slower than back home in Central California, which was a nice change.

People are used to walking every day, for miles.

Few people are overweight.

Provisions are made with ramps and crosswalks for those in wheelchairs and pedestrians, despite having old sidewalks and high curbs. There was a sense of inclusiveness extending to all. Often the restrooms were coed, meaning the sinks were shared with men, women and children, but there were individual stalls for privacy.

People were kind and relaxed. They were eager to share their culture with foreigners.

I definitely felt welcomed.

I plan to bring a thing or two back from Croatia, and I don’t mean in terms of souvenirs.

I mean the practice of living a slower paced life, incorporating exercise into my daily life (not just via trips to the gym), and nurturing the feeling of connectedness to all kinds of people.

How could you put this into practice in your life, too?

Janie J is the author of “Live the Life You Have Imagined,” “Single and Sixty,” “The Unimagined Awakening” and The New I Am Document, Volume 1.” She began writing books after a spiritual awakening let her tap into universal wisdom. Her mission is to help others live a life of more joy and understanding and to raise the consciousness of all humankind. Get started on your own journey with a free copy of the Connect to Transform Process at www.TheNewIAMMovement.com/transform.