Aging Well: The Perks of Traveling

You know the deal.  We’re not going to be in our 20s forever.  Not even in our 30s.  Once you hit 40s, the nagging feeling of “aging” starts to enter front stage.  Fear not.  Aging has its perks.  Presumably, we learn from our mistakes and we know better what we want in life.  This is especially true if for the past decades you managed to spread your wings and throw yourself into countless adventures.

For travelers, traveling can bring us so many different lessons, experiences, and moments. Of course, it also expands our circle of friends and our views of the world. But, when you get enough time on the road or trail by yourself, you get to treat yourself to daydreaming, fantasizing, self-introspection, and most importantly, pondering life’s toughest questions. As one gets older, the meaning behind traveling evolves and we are gifted some level of wisdom every step of the way.  Accordingly, everyone of us holds a unique view on traveling based on our experiences, both on and off the road.

Here are some of the ideas, epiphanies and lessons that came by my way in a very random order over the years I’ve been traveling and trekking up mountains, and by the time I have reached the lovely age of “40.”  Luckily, the list will keep growing as time goes by, which I find to be the most valuable natural side effect of “aging.”  It turns out that aging as one continues to travel and hike up mountains will only become more enlightening from hereon.   Hence,

We should embrace the process and love every minute of it.

1. Once upon a time my goal was to get married.  Now, my goal is to be happy. I raised the standard.

2. I’d rather see you rise and shine when you’re most afraid than when you are at your bravest moment.

3. Our lives are defined by moments, not people.  That’s why you should never take people’s words or actions personally.  Neither should you get 100% attached to someone.

4. It’s good to know if you’re afraid of love.  It’s better to know the reason why.

5. Love is blind oftentimes; self-love is there to give you eyesight.

6. I’d rather be imperfect and be loved as opposed to being perfect without love.

7. Never lose two things when you get into a new romance: yourself and your friends, as they will save you when your new romance ends.

8. I don’t go for the fastest, the highest or the hardest.  I go where my heart is moved the most for it’s how we felt at the moment, not what we accomplished, that will live with us for the rest of our lives.

9. We can make a choice to turn our lives into an adventure.  The starting point is to find the inspiration to do so.

10. We are all waiting for something or someone.  Don’t let the waiting period drag you down.  It’s the suffering that makes the prize much sweeter.

11. There is no better gift to your romantic partner than loving yourself first.

12. The more you master letting go and saying goodbye, the easier it is to open your heart to others and experience each moment with a fellow human wholeheartedly.  So, don’t fear saying goodbye even if it requires shedding tears and feeling enormous pain.

13. People come and go as you turn the chapters of your life.  Staying permanently is merely an option so be grateful if some do stick around.

14. We attract what we put out there.  Hence, keep your soul beautiful.

15. Ego is the worse motivation for any endeavor.

16. A fellow human is a tool for personal growth.  Use him to learn but never force him to be someone he’s not.

17. Find a partner who complements and inspires you; not one that simply fills the void.  Filling the void is your job, not his/hers.

18. A person’s character is the cornerstone of real beauty.

19. Happiness comes easy when you remind yourself of the good things you have in life.

20. Living is a privilege, not an entitlement.

21. Find “your” peeps and never let them go.

22. I don’t aim for perfection; I’d rather aim to learn.

23. Get rid of expectations as best as you can so you can see more of what a person is truly made of.

24. My spirit died once, but never again.

25. Some humans enter our lives temporarily to show a reflection of ourselves at that very moment in time.   Don’t ever pass up that opportunity to glance at the mirror to see how your soul is doing.

26. The biggest experiment is yourself.  You dissect it, analyze it, mold it, change it and in the end hopefully you come up with a better theory of what you’re about.

27. It’s relevant in life to learn to respect boundaries, be it physical or emotional in nature for oftentimes lack of boundary can ruin significant personal ties.

28. I would prefer to be alone than feel lonely with a significant other.

29. What we believe, we achieve.

30. Don’t base my courage on the amount and frequency of my tears; but rather pay attention to the number of times I keep moving forward and making something magical out of an experience that is so extraordinarily painful.

31. I haven’t given up on love.  It’s just that a goodhearted man who has found true love with himself is a rare kind of soul.

32. You don’t dive into a relationship to change each other.  You enter a relationship because all the work has already been done by both parties to be the best versions of themselves.

33. Indeed, my parents taught me significant life lessons, both good and bad, but I take it from here how I define my own happiness.

34. We long for adventures because they fill our soul with meaning through lessons we learn along the way.

35. There is no such thing as a “goodbye.” Any ending is part of the flow of life so there is always something gained, not lost.

36. Self actualization happens faster when you’re unattached to anything or anyone; hence, the more reason to appreciate solitude and singlehood.

37. Timing is everything. Patience will you get you there.

38. The complexity of life is at times finding value in simplicity.

39. The challenge of being human is gaining insight beyond the physicality of ourselves and our surroundings so we can discover the power we have as creators.

40. Traveling is timeless, be it in the physical, emotional and mental sense.  Even with limited physical capacity in my old age, I will easily revisit the places I’ve been through so-called memories just to find myself falling in love with them all over again.

For more inspiration, read Top Motivational Travel Quotes That Will Fuel Your Wanderlust!