So often, it is the unexpected travel experiences that leave the biggest impact on us; This was the case for me when visiting Japan. I never expected the tea ceremony I signed up for in Kyoto to have such a profound impact on the way I live my life today, but many years later, it still stands out as of the best things I did in the country.
Backpacking in Southeast Asia quite literarily was a life-changing trip for me. This trip was meaningful not just because of all the things I saw, the food I ate, and the bucket list items I checked off, but rather the lessons I learned during the experience. In fact, after leaving the region, I felt like I had found the secret sauce to a meaningful, purposeful, and happier life. Here are three important lessons I learned and how they created the formula for a better life.
On my last day in Luang Prabang, Ker did something that will forever be one of the most incredible things I’ve seen on any of my travel journeys. How did a person, who sleeps on a bench, making 33 cents an hour, with no time to study,, and a desperate desire to get his family out of extreme poverty, find the heart to lend his time and money to a stranger who he knew was financially better off than himself?
Until you take a gap year, you don’t realize how precious the combination of time and freedom are. We all have time, but for most of our adult lives, that time doesn’t always feel like it’s fully ours. 365 days after my first gap year, here is everything I’ve learned and why I believe gap years are so beneficial!
Understanding Suffering Buddha Sak, the head monk of Thailand’s International Meditation Center, would say that during meditation, one’s mind will wander as if it is
Life without any of our five senses wouldn’t feel like life at all. We are constantly bombarded by sensory stimulation. The smell of flowers, the sight of a sunset and the taste of an overcooked meal; Senses are the soldiers that feed our brain information. Though senses are arguably our biggest gift in life, they also can guide us in the wrong direction if we don’t understand how they are processed in our minds.
Ichi-go Ichi-e, 11 letters that I resonated with in Japan. The phrase, in rough translation, means to treasure the moment, it may never come again. It is the perfect way to describe the way I’ve tried to live my life and the way I believe many people should. When I heard this phrase used by a tea master in Japan, I instantly formed a deeper connection with the country. It wasn’t just a nice sounding phrase, but one that actually seemed to represent the Japanese culture.