The coronavirus might have caused global economic upheaval on an unprecedented scale but I wouldn’t want to find myself becoming nothing more than a slave to my trade as a result. Indeed, even if you don’t know me, I would say that I would quite like to travel more, but I simply don’t have the money at the moment (travel opportunities are certainly at an all-time low in my life right now, anyway). Now, call me cynical but I’ve never really considered the value of travel blogs until this day, regarding them as little more than a hobby among a small (and well-off) portion of society who won’t really care if their travel blogs are read or not (and if they are read, they wouldn’t really care for details about those who read them), let alone whether or not they would make them money. You could say that I have for a long time compared them to travel magazines, which people always agree to pay for. Still, I have travelled to quite a few countries in my life (including France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Malta, Greece, Portugal, Canada and Singapore; which I state with no intention of making anyone jealous) and it’s not like I disagree that travel can be educational, enriching and fulfilling; and I have to accept that people who write travel blogs can be trusted to play a role of pointing out obscure problems and perils during prospective excursions abroad that travel companies will probably keep quiet about – not just go on about things to look forward to.
All too often, a choice to stay at home suggests a desire not to leave one’s comfort zone (not that I have overlooked the fact that times are very different right now), and with that I suppose the question is: why should travelling be regarded as more than just fun (like all the holidays your parents took you on when you were still a child) – not just a privilege among those with enough money to buy plane tickets and hotel rooms and all the rest of it? And so I have considered starting to read travel blogs in my spare time, this article being an excellent introduction. https://expertvagabond.com/travel-blogs/ What the author has put for all these 15 entries has already struck a chord with me somewhat. I mean, how would you explain getting “lost with purpose”? Or the idea that one can “get lost for hours” in this stuff without any real fear of being branded ignorant for it? “The more you know, the better you travel”… and there I was thinking it was the other way round. Also, on Quora.com, one response to the question “Would you be happy if you were suddenly given everything you ever wanted in life?” begins as follows:
“The problem is too many people think of happiness as a destination, a plateau one reaches. We hear people say, ‘If I just had the house/car/job/money/relationship I really want, I’d be happy.’ The funny thing is, if we are lucky enough to get that thing, we are thrilled for a short time before reverting to our old dissatisfied self. Did you know that many lottery winners begin to suffer from depression about two years after they win? I’ll bet they look in the mirror one day and see the same miserable, empty person who was convinced that money would make them ‘happy’. [And the final bit…] Happiness is a way of travel…” (Rick Cormier, M.Ed Psychology, Harvard University).
I don’t want to frustrate anyone or sound overbearing but you never know what you may find yourself remembering at a later point in life – and what it reveals (or at least may suggest) about you. But I can’t speak for you, and I don’t intend to. Yet in an age when people are so often more drawn to arsing around on their smartphones playing games or surfing online than to “opportunistic”, “meaningless” or “pretentious” contact with each other, it pays to consider where one’s tendency for waiting for their own random idle thoughts, more than anything else, to “fill the void” and “gratify” them, has gotten them in the actual real world.
Talking of surfing online, you just know the Net is full of quotes from people whose mother tongue is not your own, never mind those whose mother tongue is your own, and these quotes can only come from one’s own personal experiences in life, and how they have responded to them on account of their personal values, priorities, beliefs, concerns and fears. After all, reality is just – how else to describe it? – reality. That said, even the most intelligent of us just don’t know what to expect sometimes – I hope you get the humility that is recognisable with such a statement. Consider this: it’s amazing what you can get used to when you put your mind to it – and by no means infrequently frightening what you can get used to when you don’t.
Recently I put up a post on LinkedIn in which I discussed what I would say to potential new customers, as part of a more assured and coherent first impression (because, as they say, first impressions count). It is reproduced as follows:
“In light of the coronavirus and the negative effect it is having on general business all around the world, I deemed it necessary to revise my message about myself when it comes to first impressions with new customers – it has to be both clear and succinct in anyone’s eyes. For some, it’s not enough to say that I have a degree in French and German and studied translation at postgraduate level, or even that I have been a self-employed translator for 11 years. More details can be found on my website https://lnkd.in/eMfe8k8 , but I basically promise to provide English translations which are not just “correct”; I can and will do it in a confident and articulate way, and I enjoy a genuine verbal creativity challenge now and then.”
However much the coronavirus may have prohibited me from travelling for now, looking back on my own experience as part of the work I do in my profession (or indeed elsewhere) can essentially be acknowledged as something of a journey within. For as long as I care about success, it’s a journey which cannot stop. In all candour, this would apply even if I were happy with the status quo. And so, whether you are considering hiring me for anything or not, I invite you to follow me on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn and come on a journey with me.