On Escapist Travel

Dear friends,

Many people, when they experience a tough time, crave to get away. People travel as a means to escape (a lot of the time), but oftentimes this is only a very temporary solution.

See, no matter where you go, you are still there. If your problem lies within, there is no escaping it. It reminds me of a book my parents always read to me when I was younger: We’re Going On a Bear Hunt. In the book the kids were on an adventure and when faced with obstacles they said “We can't go over it, we can't go under it! We've got to go through it!”

You have to confront the things you want to see changed.

If you go on a trip to run away, you bring what you are carrying with you.

For me, as I am on my road trip right now, I came into it hoping that the lack of obligations and to do list items would allow me to slow down and find some of the peace I have been looking for.

It was a mistake to think that anything outside of me could change the way I feel inside. I am constantly being reminded that life does not work that way.

Yes, I feel a few degrees more of inner peace now, but I am in no way enlightened or even close to it.

I don’t think one abrupt change can make an instantaneous difference in your inner life, at least it hasn’t in my life.

Inner change comes from a build up of things over time; things compounding to create your inner landscape. As a river takes millennia to carve out a canyon, outer events take a long time to create any meaningful inner change.

All of this being said, I love travel and this is by no means any argument against it. I just don’t think that it is ideal with the goal of changing your inner landscape. Your travel and the experiences you accumulate will maybe create some of the bends or small divots in your canyon, but you can’t expect it to completely alter its shape.

For me, I am observing the slow change in my inner landscape created by many aligned decisions and experiences that have compounded over the past few years. It is amazing to watch. I just need to realize that forcing it to change is pointless. I will only enjoy the experiences less.

Enjoy your life as it is, don’t put pressure on certain moments to be the “ones that alter it all.” It’s not that deep, at least not yet.

I love life.

The Grateful Podcast:

I have a podcast where I interview people much smarter and more qualified than me talking about how you can live a more purposeful life full of gratitude and ambition. 
I release episodes every Monday where I go over a lesson I’ve recently learned.

Every Wednesday and Saturday I release an episode with a very cool guest. 

(No Saturdays in June)

You can subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, or find the video version on YouTube.

This week’s episodes:

Monday: I will dive into my thought process writing this newsletter

Wednesday: Nathan Bigelow

Coaching:

If you’re ready to take action and need guidance, I’d love to help.

I have limited space available so if you’re interested, book a free 15-minute call with me to discuss your dreams and how to start making them happen. 

You can shoot me an email at [email protected] where we can get scheduled.

Make this week rock. Thank you so much for reading this; I’ll see you next week.

With love,

Jack Wagoner