Finding peace in settling down more than traveling
I guess most of us have been exposed to the promotion of traveling by someone around us at least once in our lives. Like, how traveling around the world, seeing new places, having adventures and visiting museums are important and how life would be so bad without those.
Alright, I know they are not bad activities at all and they might be one of the ways to enrich our inner selves. But traveling is neither holy nor sacred.
In my 20s, I loved exploring new places. I hitchhiked around Eastern Europe, rode my touring bicycle along the coast in western Türkiye and went on numerous camping trips. Back then, these activities gave me a sense of freedom and the joy of meeting interesting people. Nowadays, these activities no longer bring me the same enjoyment.
These days, I do not enjoy traveling anymore as I did years ago. It just gives me fatigue or feels like a chore. Everyone is so crazy about traveling and they even like to count it. I can see most places and museums from my laptop.
For art, I no longer feel the need to visit physical locations. There is an abundance of beautiful art available online, which often surpasses what I see in museums. While some museum collections can be impressive, many works in museums are quite kitsch these days. I guess quantity has won over quality worldwide in many areas.
How I enjoy my time in recent years:
- Reading books and blogs,
- Writing/tinkering,
- Gaming,
- Taking walks,
- Watching movies, anime, and good quality YouTube videos,
- Studying coding and human languages,
- Having chats with my friends around where I live or online (or getting to know new people),
- Learning new things by reading.
These are the ideal vacation style for me.
I don’t need to fly to distant places, stay in expensive hotels, or spend a lot of money on tour agencies to enjoy my time. I prefer a peaceful, quiet time with my laptop, books, and walks, enjoying my favorite food and watching what I love. The most important thing for me is having peaceful silence. I much more prefer exploring my local area.
Yet, one of the few things I love to discover is nature. Exploring nature is far more valuable to me than visiting museums, architectural sites, or cities. My home, with personal belongings like my bed, kitchen, internet, laptop and books are where I feel truly safe and peaceful. Nature provides a similar sense of peace and is an exception to my preference for staying home.
My discontent against traveling is mostly for touristic areas/trips.