Insights from a journey

BY ESTHER CHEN WEI LEE

All you need for travelling is a quiet heart and non-stop footsteps to keep meeting, to keep thinking, to keep passing your thoughts and to keep renewing your memories.

In this era of economic development, the pace of life has accelerated rapidly. Nowadays, you may be accustomed to having a hectic schedule and have forgotten the term “work-life balance”. Perhaps sometime you will feel that you are like a machine, living your life on repeat every day of the week. This idea is becoming more prominent because if you stay in an environment for too long, you will become very numb, and this signifies that you may need to take a break and slow down.

Jane’s first time seeing the panda.

Travelling may be a good choice. Travelling can give you a change of environment and regulate your mood. The purpose and significance of travelling vary from person to person, and everyone’s starting point may be different, but every trip is unique, and the focus is not on where you go or what sights you see, but what you get out of it.

Travelling combines delightful sights, mouth-watering food, and fun anecdotes. When you see beautiful scenery and meet more people or things, perhaps it will change your views on life, where you will become more open-minded and optimistic instead of being dull or full of complaints.

Travelling is like a breathing encyclopaedia; you can always find something new and get in touch with a lot of things. Slowly, your vision will broaden, you will talk more, people will become more interesting, and your view on life will change.

Jane Chen, a full-time housewife after giving birth, spends most of her time caring for and educating her children. She longed for time when she was always travelling, the freedom of going anywhere she wanted, and taking time off for herself.

Petronas Twin Towers.

Kuala Lumpur’s busiest shopping centre, KL Pavilion.

“To me, the benefits of travelling, more than anything else, are that it allows us to forget about life’s troubles for a while and relieves the pressure,” said Jane.

Asked about the main reasons she travels, she explained that there are at least two impulses in life. The first is to fall in love, taking a leap of faith in uncertainties, and the second is to take a trip the moment one decides to do so.

Mederka 118, the tallest skyscraper in all of Southeast Asia.

“Travelling lets me see all kinds of landscapes and get to know many friends. Although sometimes I only get to spend a few days with them, these few days can be some of the most precious memories in my life,” Jane said.

“During our travels, we can meet a wide variety of people who may come from different countries and backgrounds. You can make new friends and expand your relationships through communication and interactions.

“Cross-border interactions can help you build a more comprehensive social network and increase your influence in various fields. In addition, sharing your travel experiences and feelings with others can also enhance our bond with friends and family and make interpersonal relationships more harmonious.

“It turns out that there are a variety of different lifestyles and value standards throughout the world; there are very few absolutes of good and bad, right and wrong, success and failure in this world, and without experiencing them all, you are not qualified to judge other people’s lives,” Jane said.

Genting’s famous Sky City indoor theme park.

She added that travelling allows you to experience and feel life’s twists, turns and different situations. These experiences will allow you to better reflect on your values and goals and find what you truly love. Travelling sometimes makes you realise that pursuing happiness and fulfilment depends not on material things and money but on inner needs and growth. This realisation can help you make life transformations that allow you to live a more fulfilling and meaningful life.

Only when a person is in an unfamiliar environment can they gain a different life experience. There are joys, lows, sadness, struggles, misses, touches, silences, and many more experiences. Jane always thought that it was travelling that allowed her to know the world, but over time, she realises that it also enables her to get to know herself again.

Her advice is to be sure to travel before you are old. Don’t think that when you are over 100 years old and your children are happily married and settled, you will still have time to see the outside world. By then, you may feel that you’re free to travel, but in reality, you will be too busy or lack the health capacity to go. Make the time to travel now!

** This article was written by a student from the Strategic Communication Programme at the Faculty of Education, Language and Communication, UNIMAS.