This travel blog post is really a mesh of a lot of thoughts I’ve had about my recent trip to Ohio. I’ll start with a quick little summary and then dive into the deep stuff of soul searching and thoughts on traveling for personal growth :).
I started off the new year by traveling to Ohio to see some good friends of mine. It was so long overdue…I met these friends when they came to Tucson beginning of 2022. We met through volleyball. Although they were only in Tucson for a couple of months, we ended up becoming good friends.
While I don’t exactly miss the cold weather of the Midwest, I sure do miss the snow. I mean…I know Christmas just passed but snow can make a background look like a winter wonderland.
My friend said she had a bunk bed I could use to sleep in. Little did I know that the supposed bunk bed turned out to be this:
Hit my head 3 times waking up in the middle of the night, but no regrets taking the bottom bunk.
It was a short weekend trip filled with good people, good game nights, and good volleyball. Met some just really down to earth people that were so welcoming that they almost convinced me that I should move over.
I got a chance to visit Cuyahoga Valley National Park right before I left. Did a small hike to Brandywine Falls, the biggest waterfall in the park.
Sad I had to leave only after 3 days. Will most definitely be back to visit…on a warmer occasion for some hiking and outdoor volleyball (because indoor hurt my knees too much :))
It’s not the years in your life
I came across this quote in my friend’s bathroom. Oh how cliché. And yet how true.
It hit me hard. It was as if that wooden block of words was talking to me.
I honestly have been living my life with very little life the last couple of months. I journaled about how I felt after seeing that block – I wrote down “I feel grey. Like in a black and white movie. No color”. As if my life wasn’t colorful at all. I didn’t know why at the time but when I wrote those feelings down, that marked the start of me soul searching.
I started to ask myself – why was I feeling so empty? At what point did my life just start to go in the wrong direction? What was I longing for? All these soul searching questions were heavy. I’m still journaling about these questions to this very day.
An unexpected way to end my trip to OH
I had an unexpected and funny conversation with an Uber driver on my way back to my car from the airport.
He asked me what I did for a living. To be honest, I felt a little hesitant at first because of the sensitivity of my work, but a part of me thought – I don’t need to go into detail. So I told him I was a software engineer, but had a mechanical engineer background. I told him about how I made the switch about a year ago ( I talk about that journey here!)
It was at that response where the conversation turned into something totally unpredicted. He first commended me for my risk to switch careers. He then shared how he’s been reading books that talk about the risk mindset; to take risks to live more meaningfully. He even thinks that I would become a millionaire one day.
I never had such a compliment and encouragement from an Uber driver. I knew it was something I needed but it felt like…this Uber ride was planned…it wasn’t random.
Before we parted ways, I asked him what his dream was – he said it was to run a respiratory therapy company. He had been reading and learning about the respiratory system. So cool!
Thoughts on traveling for personal growth
After what happened on this trip, I wanted to share some of what I learned from this trip.
First, traveling is super helpful for personal growth. It doesn’t matter whether you travel locally or internationally. What matters is that it’s a new experience for you.
You’ll be more engaged to wander and explore the unknown. You’ll be challenged to be more present in the moment or to be more sociable with new people like I was in Ohio. You might even find yourself lost or in unexpected moments like I was with my Uber driver.
In all these moments during traveling, you can gain wisdom and perspective for how you want to personally grow and live your life. It’s not easy to go somewhere new, but it’s in those uncomfortable moments where we can personally grow the most.
Somehow, this trip also helped me start soul searching.
Anyways, hope your year has started out well! Cheers.
