I’m not quite sure why I have been slow to post lately as I have had content just waiting in the coffers.  Oh well… better late than never.

Picture by Patrick Lionais.

As mentioned in my previous post, blog reader Lydia had sent in an email with 3 questions regarding travel.  Here is question #2 with response.

What do you think was the biggest challenge on your trip?

As a preface to this question, please note that the trip was fantastic and I would highly, highly suggest everyone take some time off in their life to do a climbing trip or an extended travel (non-climbing trip) as the experience is invaluable (I am still hoping to do an around the world trip at some point).  However, there will definitely be a handful of challenges that present themselves.  These challenges will vary for each individual, but these were the three largest that I faced.

1. Feeling Lost – It is easy to feel “lost” while living on the road. I am a very goal oriented person and I noticed I felt lost for the first 6 weeks, not understanding why exactly I hit the road. (Yes, that sounds silly.. but I definitely met other people who felt the same way.) The key was for me to make goals. Sure climbing goals were good, but I made other goals of things I wanted to accomplish. I had to look at it from the perspective that I had a 10-month break from real life and decide what I wanted to do with this time. I ended up with a list of  goals that included a number of books I wanted to read, a daily time frame to try and learn French, learning to become more comfortable with the terminal window (um, I like geeky things like that), and I focused on journaling, trying to understand patterns in my life that I perhaps wanted to change upon getting home.
2. Loneliness Sets In – I was surprised at how loneliness could just creep up out of nowhere. I was traveling solo, how I usually travel, but I had yet to do such an extended trip by myself. There were definitely time periods of loneliness. Not loneliness for a significant other, but loneliness for a friend who already knew my story: someone who already knew my job, my family situation, my travels, just me. Upon meeting people there was always a “data dump” where people asked the usual questions and sometimes I just missed the familiarity of a good friend. And even though a good friend at home should have been just a phone call away, I noticed they really weren’t for the sole reason that we were living completely different lives. Interestingly, I made new SLC friends (a couple who I had met right before my trip and a couple that just reached out to me through my blog) that had lived on the road and new the highs and lows… and these people became dear friends. (A great example of this being my friend, Melissa.)
3. Finding Your Groove Upon Arriving Home – I think the hardest challenge for me was finding my place upon arriving home. I have been home 3 months and have yet to find this groove.  I think it is because I was coming home to yet another time of transition of finding a new home, finishing one job, finding a new job, hoping to make a move to a new destination, etc.  I have had a surprisingly rough time …. but I think the takeaway is for me to learn patience and just believe that things will work out how they are supposed to when the timing is right.

Hope this helps you out, Lydia.  Thanks again for writing in.