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https://medium.com/personal-growth/travel-is-no-cure-for-the-mind-e449d3109d71 https://medium.com/personal-growth/travel-is-no-cure-for-the... When I have anxi

https://medium.com/personal-growth/travel-is-no-cure-for-the-mind-e449d3109d71 https://medium.com/personal-growth/travel-is-no-cure-for-the... When I have anxiety and unhappy moments in my life, I feel stuck. My natural inclination in these moments is to run. To get away, to be somewhere new, do something new, just get the eff away from wherever I am. I frequently felt that traveling and being a digital nomad would cure this problem and I would never feel that way, but the article above outlines why that isn't the case. Our problems follow us everywhere, and just because I'm eating sushi in tokyo in some cool hole in the wall doesn't mean I won't dread and have anxiety. I am very grateful for the traveling I've done, which is a fair bit more than a lot of Americans. But in addition to that blog post it has helped me realize it isn't the cure to anything. The article is sort of dumb and probably doesn't resonate with everyone. But it helped me

rjh29 5y ago
It does resonate with me. Having lived in Japan for a year I got a huge amount of benefit from it. I think the author dismisses too quickly the benefits of living and being exposed to a culture different from your own, as it acts as a new reference point for the rest of your life. If you've spent all your life in one country than living in another can really open up your mind in a genuine way. Not to mention learning a new language and being exposed to new things (like my love of karaoke and baths, not to mention tons of manga I never knew about) And personally giving up my friends and living in a new environment forced me to adapt and become more social and less anxious. It had a huge positive effect on my confidence. I made friends different to the types of friends I had before. I did things I had never done before. So yeah, if you end up reverting your 'baseline' then it won't help, and I can definitely understand that - I'll never be an extrovert, I'll always value having a few good friends and spending a lot of time alone - but that doesn't mean it can't be profoundly helpful for getting you out of a rut.
- stnmtn 5y ago
  Did you know any japanese before traveling there?
  - rjh29 5y ago
    Yeah I studied for 18 months and could read fairly well. Speaking was crap but got much better within 3 months of living there. The more studying you do beforehand the better imo

rjh29 5y ago

It does resonate with me. Having lived in Japan for a year I got a huge amount of benefit from it. I think the author dismisses too quickly the benefits of living and being exposed to a culture different from your own, as it acts as a new reference point for the rest of your life. If you've spent all your life in one country than living in another can really open up your mind in a genuine way. Not to mention learning a new language and being exposed to new things (like my love of karaoke and baths, not to mention tons of manga I never knew about) And personally giving up my friends and living in a new environment forced me to adapt and become more social and less anxious. It had a huge positive effect on my confidence. I made friends different to the types of friends I had before. I did things I had never done before. So yeah, if you end up reverting your 'baseline' then it won't help, and I can definitely understand that - I'll never be an extrovert, I'll always value having a few good friends and spending a lot of time alone - but that doesn't mean it can't be profoundly helpful for getting you out of a rut.

stnmtn 5y ago
Did you know any japanese before traveling there?
- rjh29 5y ago
  Yeah I studied for 18 months and could read fairly well. Speaking was crap but got much better within 3 months of living there. The more studying you do beforehand the better imo