This blog is all about exploring the world to the fullest, returning home healthier and wiser, and aching for more. Travel for me is all about doing something different.  This could be as simple as going to a new part of the city you live in and visiting a new restaurant or spending a year visiting different parts of the world. Done properly these should stimulating and reinvigorating. I’ve always believed change is a healer. But the travel experience dwindles with time spent in a hotel room or a car or bus. To get something out of it – mentally, physically, and spiritually if you want to call it that – you need to be fully engaged. Walk or rent a bike whenever possible – the slower pace allows you appreciate what’s around you, burns off the excesses of a travel diet, and  relieves some of the travel tension. Take the time to learn about the place and seek out venues that add to that knowledge. If there’s nothing that interests you, then why have you bothered to go. In all cases, do things intelligently, at a pace that’s enjoyable, but not so slow that you miss out on the best parts of your trip.  In the end, you’ll better appreciate where you’ve been, why you went, and will be ready to start planning for where you’ll go next.

All photos are my own and can be used by permission only.

Patrick Johnston