Confessions of a Travel Addict (& all the other ways I get my fix)

June 13, 2017 Lana @TravelSavvyGal Comments 0 Comment

As I walk out of the theater, the bustle of Times Square and the city of New York surrounds me, but I am pleasantly removed from it all as I float along, caught up in my thoughts. Thinking about the play, considering the characters.

I can’t bear the thought of checking my cell phone to see what happened in the intervening time. So I don’t.

I am drawn toward Central Park, so begin meandering north. I feel an urgent need for some beauty and nature – trees & grass & sky. Things that are green and blue. Things that are vibrantly alive.

And standing there in this spot, seeing the NYC skyscrapers yet also seeing the leaves framing it, I know that in a world that feels like it’s gone mad sometimes, maybe art and beauty is all we have?

“Rome is burning, and you want to put on a play?”
“Rome is always burning.”
-‘Indecent’

Indecent, which I saw last week, was the Broadway play that inspired these feelings and musings. While set nearly 100 years ago, it resonated with me on a deep level and felt incredibly applicable to today’s world. It’s not the time to shy away from art, it’s the time to embrace it wholeheartedly.

And in the age of a constant news cycle, it’s so each to become numb and desensitized, with people already spinning the news before the facts have even been reported, theater helps you to feel.

I love experiencing the rush of seeing the world outside with completely different eyes after emerging from live theater, done well. A story that takes you on a journey, and at the end, the actors have laid bare the core of humanity and touched your soul. And you want to extend that moment for as long as possible.

That is the life cycle of watching a play or musical live, and I crave the experience. And writing it all out and thinking about the emotions live theater evokes for me, was when I realized it. The arc of live theater is just like the arc of travel for me. >And I just can’t get enough.

Stages of the Travel Experience

My grandfather always said that there are three stages of travel: the anticipation, the experience of travel itself, and savoring the memories afterward. He was right, of course, although I complicate most things and find a bit more nuance to the arc of the travel experience.

And yes, I’m admittedly a travel addict, but I also can’t get enough of live theater. Or spending days outdoors hiking or rock climbing. What is it that I crave about each of those experiences, travel included?

Planning & Anticipation

Okay, so my grandpa was right about this part, the pre-trip experience is all about the anticipation! Of what you might see or do when you travel. For me, this often involves doing some research in advance. But even if I don’t make it anywhere on my list, just going through that planning process gives me satisfaction. Whether it’s which play to see, where to go hiking, or what travel destination I’ll hit up next, the anticipation is always the first part of the experience for me.

Uncertainty

Of course, no how little or how much advance planning you undertake, life is unpredictable. But this uncertainty, for me, is also part of the emotional journey. Wondering what a new country be like when I arrive, what is around the next bend of the hike, what will the main character of a play do when caught in an impossible choice. Even on the unusual occasion when things do go as planned, you don’t know that it will happen ahead of time, it only becomes apparent when you’re in that moment. Keeping you on your toes, experiencing the world.

Emotions Along the Way

Of course, not every travel experience is wonderful. I’ve heard people often say that it will either be a great experience or a great story. Like possibly my craziest hotel check-in ever in Bulgaria last summer (great story) or the wonderful time I had on my recent visit to Belize (great experience). In the rush of emotions, good or bad, I always feel palpably alive, and try to savor the full range of emotions that I’m experiencing.

A Change in Perspective

For experiences that really touch you, whether seeing a transformative theater performance or taking that life-changing trip, you never quite look at the world in the same way. I like to think that I come out of these experiences with new eyes. Taking a kinder look at a stranger after exposure to a different culture or the opportunity to see the world through another point of view. And I crave whatever experience will shake things up for me!

Reflection

Now to that post-travel step my grandfather always talked about. Looking back and savoring the journey. When I reflect, I find myself wanting to extend those moments just a little bit longer, like I experienced on a recent theater-going day. Whether it is walking for a bit completely disengaged from technology like I did last week in New York, or delaying unpacking when you return home from a big trip because you want the visual reminder of where you’ve been, looking back is a special part of the experience for me as well.

End of the Journey

There is always a sense of catharsis or the satisfaction of having reached the end of a journey, and that moment of calm is part of the emotional cycle that keeps me a travel addict – always coming back for more. It’s a form of meditation, when your mind is naturally blank after a day of physical or emotional exertion, or at the end of a trip. Even if a theater performance provokes unease or I feel more exhaustion than satisfaction for all of those great travel stories, there is still a sense of calm and peacefulness at each experience coming to a close.

Until Next Time

If you’re a travel addict like me, you know what happens next. The moment one journey finishes of course, you’re looking forward to when you get to have the experience all over again! Feeling the emotional highs and lows, pushing yourself to your limits, and getting to the essence of what it means to be alive.

There’s no denying that the arc of travel for me is an experience that stretches me to grow in beautiful and unexpected ways. Even when I am not traveling, the drive for those emotions is so strong that I’ve found all sorts of other ways to fulfill that urge. To feel my humanity. To take that journey. To acutely experience being alive.

So that’s when I plan an outing to see live theater. Or go on a hike. Or spend a day rock climbing in a beautiful location.

I’ve been an avid theater-goer for the last 20 years, almost to the day. I’ve been rock climbing for 23 years, and hiking since I was little. Even several decades after I began to do each, I still actively seek out these things. Nourishing my soul. And I travel. A lot.

The truest confession of this travel addict? I am unapologetically hooked.

Do you find the same fulfillment that I do from the experience of travel? And when you’re not on the road, how do you get your “travel fix”? Are you seeking out activities with similar emotional experiences like I seem to be? I’d love to hear your thoughts and insights, share away in the ‘Comments’ below!

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The Coolest Thing I Did in WA that I Didn’t Even Know Existed: The Pemberton Climbing Trees

November 22, 2016 Lana @TravelSavvyGal Comments 0 Comment

When my friend suggested that we climb some trees on our recent weekend camping trip in WA (Western Australia), I think I replied with something along the lines of “Oh, I love climbing trees.” But ladies and gentlemen, this is not the tree-climbing of your childhood, this is some exhilarating adventuring.

And once I found out more about the trees, the question I couldn’t wait to answer was: What does it feel like to climb a giant tree?

Now, when I am talking giant tree, take a second and think of how tall that might be. Twenty feet? Fifty feet? Thirty meters? Nope. The shortest of these 3 Pemberton climbing trees is 51 meters. Yup, not feet, meters! As in, 167 feet is the shortest tree, with the tallest of the trio reaching a height of over 245 feet (75 meters)!!

Of course, I couldn’t help myself. I climbed all three trees =)

One of the first things I asked myself was “why on earth would someone put all of these metal rungs into the side of a tree?” But the answer is actually quite logical and stems from a problem sadly Australians know all too well – bush fires. When it was difficult to build a tower tall enough in this forest area of naturally tall karri trees to accurately spot and extinguish the bush fires, the idea of the tallest trees in a particular area becoming the lookout point began. Pegs were inserted into the sides of these tall trees to allow rangers to climb to the top and see the surrounding area to triangulate the source of the fire.

Even with a bit of background though, I still didn’t know quite what to expect approaching the first tree that I climbed, the Diamond Tree (which is the “short” one, at just a mere 51 meters). Certainly, my American instincts were totally unprepared for the self-reliance protocol typical of the Australians. When you arrive, there is some signage explaining the climb, but there are a lot of other things I expected to see that were simply absent. Like an entrance fee. Or a park ranger to keep an eye on things. Or a legal waiver to sign. Or a net underneath the metal sticks spiraling up and serving as stairs.

Instead, there is a pretty casual sign recommending closed-toed shoes, that you carry nothing with you when you climb, and the official message from the Aussie park authorities: “Your safety is our concern, but your responsibility.” Eek. There was a quite open net along the non-tree side of the climbing pegs, but that was pretty much it. Not even a net underneath. I’d hope that most people who fall would catch themselves, but the pegs were spaced far enough apart that you could plausibly fall and slip through the space between the pegs. Nothing like a bit of danger to get the adrenaline pumping, let me tell you.

There was definitely a bit of nervousness at the start of the first tree, but let’s be real – that’s never stopped me before. At each step, I consciously thought to myself about only moving one foot or hand at a time and also made sure that I was properly gripping the bar with my hand each time. After the first ten steps or so, I hit a bit of a rhythm, looking up to the next bar and methodically moving my limbs and leaning ever so slightly forward toward the next grip. About halfway up, around the 25-meter mark, there is a platform where you can catch your breath and take a bit of a break before ascending to the top. And then you see the sign:

Well, if you weren’t sure about climbing in the first place, this might be the nudge that sent you back down to the safety of the ground. At this point though, I had figured out the hard part of gripping the initially awkward metal posts, and was ready to go to the top. Plus, there are a few platforms in close proximity when you near the top, offering a bit of enclosure and a standard ladder to climb instead of just the pegs.

When I tackled the tallest one, the Bicentennial Tree, I had a bit of an idea of what to expect. Although my initial nervousness and alertness did not completely dissipate, especially since the tree was a bit different meaning that the peg placement was a bit different as well. The first platform here (with the opportunity to change your mind and go back as before) was also about 25-meters off the ground, but the next one up from there was even longer and you still weren’t even at the top. That stretch between the initial two platforms was definitely the one that held the most trepidation for me.

And since we were doing a 10.5-kilometer hike in the area of the Bicentennial Tree, there wasn’t enough time in the afternoon to climb the third one. The Gloucester Tree was the challenge for the following morning, at which point I was already sore between the tree-climbing and hiking. It was a whole new experience to climb one of these giant trees relying on already-tired muscles. And my friend who had climbed this one several times previously let me enjoy the solitude of ascending the final tree on my own. All 61 meters to the glorious view at the top.

At the top of the tree, the view is so peaceful and extensive over the treetop. There is just something I find so harmonious about being on your own with nature all around you. Then of course you realize that you still need to come down all those metal rungs. Carefully. And at the end when you’ve reached your goal, nothing beats that sense of accomplishment, not to mention the feeling of your mind relaxing completely in the aftermath of the mental and physical exertion.

If you’ve ever used the term “adrenaline junkie” to describe yourself, the Pemberton climbing trees are obviously not to be missed if you find yourself in WA. Pemberton is only about a 4-hour drive south of Perth, and is right in the middle of some of the best wineries and restaurants of Western Australia. Even if you’re not constantly plotting your next adventure, the exhilaration of the tree climbing experience was just wonderful – and totally worth it.

Interestingly, the question I was asked most by other visitors was not whether I thought climbing the trees was safe, but “Is the view worth it?” I was first asked this by someone on the ground who was debating starting the climb and again had the question posed when I was on my way down the Bicentennial Tree and someone on there way up was frozen at the first platform, twenty-five meters above the ground (the first person didn’t climb, and the second person didn’t make it higher than that first platform).

But when the woman in her 60s who has run several marathons comes down from climbing the Gloucester Tree to say how it’s the most insane thing she’s ever done, and she asserts this with a giant smile across her face – yeah, that’s exactly the kind of thing you want to experience as you travel.

What is the “coolest thing” that you’ve done? Something that once you knew it existed, you just *had* to do??

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Travel Savvy Gal

Making the Most of Your Time Away

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