Around The World

I've been thinking quite a lot in recent weeks about the idea of goal setting and finding direction in life. I've read so many books and articles over the years about it all it's not even funny. You find yourself going round in circles and still not able to find peace with it all.

My newest insight about it all isn't new as such. It's more that I've found an approach that makes more sense to me on a personal level. The essence: life is a journey and not just a destination. Simple. A fairly trite collection of words in many ways - it all makes sense but doesn't really say anything. Well, it got me thinking about an actual journey I took and it gave me more perspective.

A long time ago and far far away, pre-Facebook and Twitter, I went backpacking. Hell, let's give it better perspective - it was the early 1990's and before the security blanket of mobile phones and email as well. Don't get me wrong, I'm no Scott of the Antarctic and many had done it before me and have since, but when I headed to Bangkok in Thailand to travel overland Denpasar in Bali, Indonesia, it did feel quite epic.

It was never really about arriving at Denpasar, which is after all a boring, dusty airport town. In fact, ending up there after 6 months of travel really did mean the end. It was all really about what went before that - the white water rafting, the elephant trekking, the full moon parties, the stolen camera, the glorious sunsets, the chilling on mountain tops, the lonely times, the rejected advances, the drunken nights out with strangers, the writing, the dancing, the getting lost, the warm smiles, the malaria tablets, the new friends, the most incredible day in Kuala Lumpur, the most incredible night in Koh Phangan, the dehydration, the goodbyes, the incredible people, the stories to take home. The memories.

So, yes, my current goal setting plans are certainly about achieving stuff at the end of my rainbow. But the glorious journey that will get me there could prove to be of bigger importance for me.