... a bit of an oxymoron if you think about it... but I’ve been doing quite a bit of decompression and reflection on our time up until now. The introspection surge has come upon us in a major way, and probably due to the three very hectic and exhausting months leading up to our departure in January, our non-stop movement over the past three months on the road, combined with our very intense experience in Mumbai, and the culture shock. All these elements have created the conditions for us to be introspective, and have highlighted some important realizations. Personally, I feel my hard corporate outer shell shedding away, and my inner core melting… I’m becoming human again, and able to experience things in the present, observing things as they are day to day, and appreciating all that we have to be thankful for. Some ah-ha’s…
1) Home life was easy. Living in the comfort & security of our home and relatively predictable cycle of life in San Diego was really easy and comfortable. Despite having a stressful and exhausting job at times, every day you could count on a predictable pattern… you would have a roof over your head, a warm comfy bed, a purpose and place to spend your day, a job you were capable and accustomed to performing, a place you would always come home to at night, and knowing always where you would get drinkable water and edible food. It’s a predictable cycle, and an environment that’s fairly well planned out. Day to day life on the road is not predictable; where we decide to go, stay, eat, and how we get there is decided on the fly, and after having lived in a predictable pattern for so many years, this is a big test and challenge for us, and has definitely pushed us beyond the edge of our comfort zone. We are learning how to relax and make decisions on the fly in an unknown, and ever changing situation. We still, though, miss our own bed.
2) Corporate life is a surreal plastic bubble. I once had a boss who bragged incessantly about his favorite Asian experience- staying at the Four Seasons in Singapore- the extreme plastic bubble. Fly in, fly out. You travel in comfort, stay in safe, secure and often luxurious hotels, eat fine food, take transportation that is comfortable and direct, and you strategize, plan for scenarios and seek to control situations for desired outcomes. The experience is sterile. It’s this plastic bubble experience of living and traveling from the corporate fly-by perspective that creates misconceptions, stigmas and biases. You are sheltered and protected from the day-to-day realities of real world, because you are able to buy comfort, convenience and security. The corporate plastic bubble often comes with plastic people, and personalities that conform to and succumb to expected values, behaviors and roles. It was much easier to live in the plastic corporate bubble, and tougher to break away. Life was comfortable, easy and catered to from an ivory tower. Today, we experience life as it truly is; seeing, smelling, tasting, hearing and touching it in the moment, and developing a broader and more understanding perspective of people, cultures, values and behaviors. We are truly experiencing, learning and growing in a way that we would never get from a classroom education or in a corporate environment.
3) Plan-aholics Anonymous Therapy In Session. Conditioned from school and work to always scan and anticipate your future environment, have a plan and a contingency, and to expect desired outcomes, is something that is completely opposite of life they way we’re living it on the road. While we hold a plane ticket and there are stops along the way that can be changed, there’s no other plan than that. We are living in the here and now. What might be a good country to visit today may turn into a terrorist minefield tomorrow. Political insurgencies, natural disasters, coups … shit happens. While we’ve traveled on a shoestring and roughed it in the past, it’s typically only been for 2-3 weeks at a time, and relatively well planned out give the short nature of the American Corporate vacation allotment. Not having a particular plan and a purpose each day is probably the single-most unnerving things about living for today in the mode that we are traveling in, and making decisions as we go. No more spreadsheets of play by plan activities, accommodations, and security blanket. Adapting, accommodating, and regulating emotions to survive and thrive together on the road in this mode of travel are skills we continue to develop each day. Today, at this minute, is life being lived in our world.
4) Fears and reality become much more clear. Sifting between the two is getting easier and fear is melting away. We are becoming more capable and confident in confronting our own fears and insecurities together, which is allowing us to have an incredibly rich experience. Our abilities to analyze situations as they arrive, make joint decisions on the fly, and enjoy the moment are increasing rapidly.
This rich experience in India has triggered our process of reflection & renewal. This is why we travel to India!
We have decided to decompress and plant ourselves here for at least a week. 