Finding Balance and Gaining Perspective through Travel
PERSPECTIVE“Only that travel is good which reveals to me the value of home and enables me to enjoy it better.”
- Henry David Thoreau
As we approach summer, thoughts of travel come to mind. The pandemic created a disequilibrium in our lives when it forced us to stay home. Wanderlust is buried deep in the fabric of our society. Seeing new places and experiencing new things helps us gain perspective and achieve some of the balance that oftentimes eludes us.
We are a product of the experiences we embrace rather than the possessions we own, and in a world that has moved away from travel as a means for survival, we are only promised the experiences we seek. When our society ushered in industry and time clocks, we created a world where we had to find travel, since it would no longer find us.
The pandemic halted our lives, and we were reminded of how much travel balanced the material possessions we acquire and hold dear. A new car is fun to own, but letting that car take us across the country and back again is the ultimate investment - in our own lives and in the legacy we will leave. We didn’t know what we had in that freedom until it was gone. Now that softening regulations are making travel more viable, we long to restore the balance that travel provides while fulfilling the inner need to expand our horizons and let our wanderings bring us home again.
It was Thoreau who said coming home is the culmination of travel. After all, travel only exists if we have a home to leave and one to which we can return. If travel helps us achieve balance, and it does, then part of that equation is the joy that comes from our own pillows, our own flowers, our own kitchens, and our own pets. Traveling is that which takes us out of our homes, leads us abroad, and brings us back again.
Travel restores balance to our lives, exposes us to new experiences, and helps us better understand the world. It’s a ubiquitous interest appearing in every discussion we have with our clients. Buttonwood Wealth’s mission is to empower you with the flexibility and confidence to live a life true to your nature and intentions. Let’s explore again.
“Travel makes one modest. You see what a tiny place you occupy in the world.”
– Gustave Flaubert, French Novelist
Article co-authored by Tia Phillips