“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.” – Marcel Proust
Travel is sure about visiting exotic destinations, going places, tasting authentic cuisines and all things about comfort. Well, sometimes travel is not about any of these. When you are in pursuit of self- discovery, travel is all about stepping out from under the rock you have been living all these years and becoming a go-getter.
Today, I have Shilpa Garg as my guest on the blog narrating about her experiences and how travel taught her to step out of her comfort zone. Shilpa takes over from here.
You surely love your comfort zone. Right? After all, it is familiar and predictable and makes you feel safe and secure. It is a healthy adaptation of your life, for you know what is your risk tolerance and what is non-negotiable for you. I’d say that it is a dangerous place as well, for it stops you from growth and newer experiences. In fact, it is a self-created prison which has walls made up of can’t(s), shouldn’t(s), negative self-talks and rigid thoughts and ideas.
Should you stay safely in this prison? The answer is a big No.
They say that you must live your life to the fullest and that means you must experience and explore unknown territories, both outside and inside of yourself. You should strive for more, you should step outside your comfort zone. Now, all that sounds good, but how do you do that?
Well, I believe that traveling is the best way to leave your comfort zone.
Over the last two decades, I have traveled a lot. A large part of it is due to work. For those of you who don’t know me, I’d like to share that I was an introvert and had huge mental blocks in doing anything out of routine. But extensive traveling has made me step out of my comfort zone and turned me into an outgoing introvert or an ambivert.
Stepping out of comfort zone does not mean that you must jump off a cliff or swim in a river with crocodiles, unless you want to, of course. It could be as simple as going on a solo trip or eating alone in a fancy restaurant or staying in a camping site.
Here are a few ways in which traveling expanded my comfort zone forever.
I Can Talk To People
For a shy person like me, interaction with people was an anxiety-filled experience and I avoided talking to strangers, completely. But when I started traveling for work and that too alone, I realized that keeping quiet did not help me in any way. If I needed directions, I had to ask someone. If I had talkative co-passengers, I couldn’t bury my nose in a book or use an eye mask, forever. It started with small chats and soon I realized that talking to strangers wasn’t all that difficult, in fact, some of my best chats have been with strangers which I remember with a fond smile, always.
I Can Eat Anything
I am that person, who orders masala dosa after scanning the menu from the first to the last page, every single time. Also, I am paranoid about hygiene and cleanliness. A few years ago, when I went to Kuwait, we were invited by our local hosts for dinner. They had prepared a lavish meal comprising of ducks, crabs, and prawns. I am a non-vegetarian but restrict myself only to the chicken and mutton. The spread was certainly not in my comfort zone, but I ate all that was served that day. And then even tried beef and camel’s meat at a restaurant. I draw the line at some things and some places, but by and large, I eat whatever is available now.
I Can Live Without The Comforts Of Home
Usually, I get to stay at star hotels but there have been times when I have stayed in a basic camp which had a bed, a small table, a very small mirror, a chair, 2 candles and a matchbox. Yes, you got it right, no electricity!!It was my home for a week. While this was ok, it was the dry-pit toilet that was challenging. Dry-pits are eco-friendly, no fuss toilets. There is a hole in the ground with a western style wooden “thunderbox” placed over the hole. No squatting required!! You’d like to thank the inventor for this one!! The back of this “thunderbox” is open so that it is easy to scoop in sand and lime from the back for covering up. A scoop is provided for this purpose. Toilet paper is provided too!! Thank God for small mercies!While I dilly-dallied for a while, but could I survive without using the dry-pit toilets?
My travel experiences have made me stretch my personal boundaries. I am open to doing things I would never have imagined. The resultant experiences were uncomfortable initially but have been fantastic and memorable. They also helped me to learn what I am capable of and changed my perspective on a lot many things and made me a more confident version of myself.
What about you? How do you travel outside your comfort zone? What lessons can you share with us?
About Shilpa Garg
Shilpa Garg is getting older by the day, she is a wife and a mother of one. She fancies herself as an observer of life and writes about things as they are and not as they should be. You can find her musings on A rose is a rose is a rose. She is passionate about reading books, baking and beautiful conversations that happen over a mug of tea and coffee.
You may connect with her on | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Google+ |
Read here about the best chats she had with strangers during her travels
This post is written for the December bloghop #mymojo with Shalzmojo
Linking up for #wordsante with Namysaysso for every post deserves some love
Agreed with you, Shilpa. All we need to travel is flexibility. Am basically an introvert type. But, I don’t know what happens to me when I travel. I smoothly mingle with the people of the new places and that makes me very happy. And I also think that one can enjoy his or her travel when he/she comes out from his or her comfort zone.
It’s true that travel is transformational. It changes us in so many ways… makes us more social, confident and shed our inhibitions a bit. Thanks for reading and sharing your thoughts, Sayanti 🙂
Thanks for hosting me on your lovely blog, Dipanwita. It’s a pleasure to be here!! 🙂
Hey Shilpa! The feeling is reciprocal. It is great to read your experiences. 🙂
I agree with Shilpa. Traveling takes one out of their comfort zone and teaches them so much. Life experiences in terms of traveling are always the best.
Well said, Shilpa.
Agree with you, Soumya. Travel truly broadens our horizons and makes us more adaptable. And such travels make for some lovely stories. 🙂
Thanks for this, Shilpa. And thank you for hosting her, Dipanwita. I enjoyed the post. Our travelling now is basically up and down the national roads of South Africa to visit our children! But I still love it. Excited for 2018 – a Year of Thankfulness
Thanks for dropping by and sharing your thoughts, Shirley.
Ah! South Africa is a beautiful country to explore and is in on travel wish list. Some day, we will travel on those roads too 🙂
Lovely post shilpa
Thank you, Rupa!
I love visting new countries, new places, experiencing new things. Travel has given me so much – adventure, family bonding, immersion into culture, food and local practices. And now that we travel with our 6-year-old everywhere, its fun to see the impact of travel on her.
Travel adds some great experiences and amazing adventures in our lives and it’s wonderful that you are giving this exposure to your little one from such a young age. Great going, Shweta!
It requires guts to travel outside your comfort zone especially as we get older and more used to our creature comforts. Equally with life getting more unpredictable we automatically have to travel outside our comfort zones and wing it …. Happy travels in 2018 Shilpa you
True that, with age we get rigid with our beliefs and comforts, but it’s the best time to step outside our comfort zone and explore and enjoy! Thanks a lot, Sunita. A great 2018 to you too 🙂
Ha ‘dry toilets’! Thats a real challenge. Travelling does make us do things which we would not have normally done i guess.
Wishing you more wonderful travels ahead.
Oh, dry-pits truly make you step out of your comfort zone 😀 Thanks a lot, Namratha. Wonderful travels to you too 🙂
Really helpful points for the introvert-ish types. Travel does bring out the best in you!!
Thanks, Prasanna. Glad you found this post helpful. 🙂
That is so true Shilpa! Travelling makes us flexible in a way and teaches us to adapt to different situations.
Oh yes, travel is the best teacher and it enriches and changes you in so many ways!
I liked this post, and agree that stepping outside the comfort zone is important to find oneself, I have tried a couple of things mentioned here… like travelling and eating what is available, I must attempt to experiment and take risk in traveling alone 🙂
Glad you can relate to this post, Genevive, You travel a lot and here’s hoping that you get to do some solo traveling too. 🙂
Loved this post Shilpa and I could relate to it so much, Iw as nodding my head in unison for so many things. I liked the concept of outgoing introvert I think I happily fit into that category. The last few months on a business solo trip made me rediscover myself and as you rightly said pushing ourselves outside our comfort zone is indeed important
Thanks a lot, Akshata. Glad you enjoyed reading this post and can relate to it too. Agree with you, travel is an enriching experience and adds so much of value and learnings too.
Travel is one of the best teachers, isn’t it? It opens us up in so many ways and helps us to stretch our wings so we can soar!
Well said, travel is the best form of education. It’s hands on learning and gives you experiences that make for such wonderful stories! 🙂
How true Shilpa!! I remember the first time I encountered dry pit toilet in Rishikesh and was pretty apalled by it. Tho I get the logic of it, using it was too much for me. But yes travel opens up our horizons and though processes in more ways than one!
I had a tough time during my first trip to Rishikesh too. I dilly dallied for a day or two, but then had to let go of my inhibitions 😀
True, travel is the best teacher ever!!
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