The seemingly endless Serengeti plains stretched out before me on my recent trip to Africa. I somehow wasn’t expecting the vastness, the sparse trees contrasting with the rich verdant green, the lone acacia tree, the infinite sky, the quiet that was alive with life…lions, zebras, giraffes, elephants, buffalo, hyenas…I felt as if I had been dropped into a National Geographic magazine.
While I have traveled to many places around the world, from Asia to the Middle East to Europe and our neighbors to the north and south, I had never been to Africa…and it was there that I was reminded again of why we travel and what we learn, not just about other places and cultures but about ourselves as well. Some places and experiences are so dramatically different from our usual expectations that they jolt us out of our comfort zone…and of course, we all know that it’s at the edge of our comfort zone that we grow the most.
And so, I returned being reminded of:
- The importance of leaving my comfort zone from time to time: As children we try new things all the time…everything is new…We learn, we grow, we fall, we get up…And then as we get older (and older), we settle into routines and do the same things that we know that we like, that we’re good at, that are comfortable…We keep it safe, and in doing so, we stifle chances to be surprised, to expand who we are…We no longer risk failure or that uncomfortable feeling of newness. But if we leave behind the familiar and embrace the unknown and remember, a whole new world opens for us.
- Patience: No, patience is not easy for me…You know how we can be in our busy, hurried, demanding, time-conscious USA…then come the complexities of travel, particularly in a place like Africa…All those new things they do differently, maybe slowly and well—to some of us particularly living in the Northeast—less efficiently, unexpected frustrations…and I (hopefully) remember to just breathe…
“Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.” Lao Tzu
- Appreciating the differences and similarities of new cultures: Immersing myself once again in a completely new culture in such a unique place reminded me of why I do the work I do and the importance of meaningful insights and understanding. It also reminds me that, in many ways, we are not all so very different and often share more similarities than differences.
- Appreciate nature and never take it for granted: Nature is on full display here in Africa, a reminder of how fragile our planet is…a reminder to appreciate our natural wonders and take care of the environment before it is too late, and our children and their children, and beyond, have nowhere to live.
- Appreciating the little things and slowing down: The vastness, the newness, the expansiveness, a sky that I felt covered us to infinity, a single acacia tree…Africa infused new feelings and perspectives and reflections of my life…a slowing down, thinking of what I miss, appreciating little things like the incredible African sunset, and savoring new food and friends…the simple things we often take for granted as we travel.
These are a few of my favorite quotes that sum up how I felt…and feel:
“Appreciate the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things.” —Kurt Vonnegut
“I am not the same, having seen the moon shine on the other side of the world.” —Mary Anne Radmacher
“Perhaps travel cannot prevent bigotry, but by demonstrating that all people cry, laugh, eat, worry, and die, it can introduce the idea that if we try and understand each other, we may even become friends.” –Maya Angelou