Comments on: Community Voice: What Happens When We’re Not Traveling?

By: Rupen Qtripper

Rupen Qtripper — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 22:52:16 +0000

There will always be that post-trip depression, you can’t help it. The hardest part is trying to fight the stress of daily routines fill your life again.

Travel doesn’t have to be expensive and there are a lot of destinations people don’t know about or have stigma’s towards. I met a lot of people on my last great trip through the Uruguayan Coast and Patagonia that referred to the “Lonely Planet” effect, where restaurants or hotels would begin to charge more or lose quality because they had this cash cow of a reference.

I like to add my findings on http://www.qtripper.com because it stuff found by locals for travelers and the users can adjust ratings for when the “Lonely Planet” or whatever effect takes place

Rupen

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By: Travel-Writers-Exchange.com

Travel-Writers-Exchange.com — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 14:35:05 +0000

Great post! Sometimes people use travel to escape from their lives. Make sure you travel for the right reasons and not because you’re not happy with your life. You’ll be miserable if you stop traveling.

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By: Brittany

Brittany — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 21:55:17 +0000

Thanks for the great response!
@gtrot

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By: Robyn

Robyn — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 10:56:24 +0000

Hi Brittany,
Thanks for the comment – I think saving money with a goal in mind is so important and helps with the motivation to do so – I’ve lived fairly frugally for several years and it’s been nice on my AT trip to not have to worry about every little penny. A backpacking trip is still a low-cost endeavor relative to other trips but it’s nice to have the option to stay in a hotel once in a awhile or treat myself to a restaurant meal.
Good question about the balance of time on and time off – I don’t think about it in concrete terms – it just happens I guess. I take advantage of the opportunities as they come – sometimes that’s “on” and sometimes it’s “off”.

A little more update – I’ll be coming off the trail in 4 days to take care of logistics for my trip to China. My blog has all the updates.

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By: Brittany

Brittany — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 20:06:51 +0000

Great post! I completely agree with cycle living. Sometimes its a matter of saving up money to take a big trip. What I struggle with is keeping enough flexibility to take the longer trips- 1-3 months. I think cutting back on material spending requires a less serious and lucrative career but how do you find a way to balance the “time on” and “time off” that a travel addiction requires?

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By: Robyn

Robyn — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 01:23:47 +0000

I love the way you describe your resting time with your dad and that you’re able to share your travel tales with each other. I bet he has some great stories.
Now that I’m planning my upcoming AT trip I feel like I’m in my element. Thanks for your comment.

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By: N. Chrystine Olson

N. Chrystine Olson — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 17:16:09 +0000

Man did you ever nail it Robyn. Been 4 years since I left for Southern Africa. Friends and family are wondering when I’m going to bail on “real life” and warm up the passport. Some don’t realize that for me those long extended trips to other continents are the real world for me.

But putting roots down and calling a place home for the first time EVER is the edge. It’s allow me to care for my father after his heart surgery and get some great tails of his own world travels, when he was a young man in WWII and in his retirement years with my Mom. Sitting still watching the NCAA basketball tournament the past two days,now that I finally got him back home, we both still consider ourselves traveler’s. We’re just resting.

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By: Robyn

Robyn — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 18:03:52 +0000

Thanks Leigh for filling in the gap – It’s so exciting to me to see how things shifted from restlessness to actually doing this. There is such a process in our movements. Although I didn’t know until recently that I could actually do this trip, I had been setting the intention and preparing for “something” for a long time. It all felt very right. This speaks to what you mentioned about not ignoring the signs.

Take the signs seriously – is a job situation changing that might provide a way out (if you want a way out)? Could you start to purge your excess possessions? Cancel subscriptions? Quit going out so much? There are so many ways to get ready for a change if you sense that coming. At any rate you’ll lighten your load and save money and will be in a better position to launch when the time is right. I really believe that when we take action with a specific intention things start to change.
Someone commented on one of my other blog postings that I “was preparing for flight”. I loved the way she described this. It was a little spooky because at the time I was thinking there was no way I was going anywhere soon. But I was setting the intention. And now I’m gone in less than 3 weeks!

Joya – I know what you mean – this is why I was so happy to discover Matador several months ago – here I can bond with tons of other people who get it. No one here is going to challenge my desire to go.

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By: Leigh Shulman

Leigh Shulman — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 15:21:01 +0000

Robyn,

I hope it’s ok for me to divulge a little more information about that for the people reading here.

I first read this article a few months ago, but it took a while for it to go from words in my mailbox to publication. In that time, Robyn has started onto the next step of her journey. She alludes to that in her earlier comment when she says she’ll be hiking again. When she wrote the article, she was in a still cycle. Now, she is about to move again.

That makes me happy to hear on so many levels. One, because I’m excited for you to travel again. But also, because it shows how the cycles work, and that perhaps the feeling of being uncomfortable with one place is a sign it’s time to move on.

It’s wonderful to see that you have not ignored those signs, and we can all learn from that.

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By: Leigh Shulman

Leigh Shulman — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 15:15:23 +0000

Cycles of living… yes.. that is exactly it.

Sometimes we want to move. Other times we want to be still. Sometimes we want adventure, the unknown and to see many places in a short period of time. Then there are time we just want to cuddle down into bed and listen to the rain with a cat curled up at our feet.

I think most of us need both. The important part is figuring out when we’re reading to move and when we need to stay in one place.

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