Journey Through Time
I’ve been thinking about time travel lately.
We make a lot of excuses about time, don’t we? Our conversations habitually swirl with how busy we are and how we don’t have time to do things we want to.
We continue to find reasons for not taking that trip on our bucket list.
Or when we do take a vacation, we try to cram way too much sightseeing into the too-short amount of time we take off from work for the trip.
The self-help gurus hawk advice about how to get more done in less time and how to spend more time on self-care. But does any of it make you feel more relaxed and time affluent?
I recently attended a continuing education seminar presented by my friend and colleague Dr. Mai-Ly Duong. She talked about the concept of TLC-T.
Tender Loving Care + Time
I love this simple concept. It brings back an awareness that time is valuable. It reminds me that slowing down is important.
Tender loving care takes time.
After all, much of travel is about tender loving self-care isn’t it?
Tender loving care in the form of giving ourselves a break from the work routine; tender loving care of visiting friends and family; and tender loving care of our earth and appreciating its vast diversity and history.
Travel itself is a commitment of time. And it should be a time dedicated to renewal, joy, and learning.
So how can we time travel better?
Timeline
When planning a visit to a new destination, it can be hard to anticipate how much time you will need to fully experience the location. Making a list of sites and activities can be helpful in determining how much time you will need for a visit.
Also take into consideration how much jet lag you might experience, how much rest and recovery you may need, and if you will be spending time with friends or family during your trip. This will help you build a timeline of activities, relaxation, and social connections.
Another consideration is whether you are traveling to a place you visit frequently or a once-in-a-lifetime destination. If you visit relatively frequently or can make a return trip easily, then you can be more flexible and go slower. If this is a once-in-a-lifetime trip, then you may consider giving yourself extra time to truly enjoy everything this bucket list destination has to offer.
One of my biggest travel regrets is that I didn’t take a third week from work to go to Lhasa, Tibet when I traveled in China.
Time travel is gifting yourself the time you need to truly enjoy the trip and the location.
Time Fatigue
If you are introverted like me, you need to consider your social battery. Traveling with friends or visiting crowded tourist sites can drain your energy quickly. You need to build recharge time and solitude into the schedule.
You may need some daily rest and alone time, whether it’s a nap back at the hotel/cabin or reading in a café, build this personal time into your itinerary. Be sure to communicate your needs to your travel companions.
I recently attended a conference in beautiful Whistler, British Columbia. Rather than packing my schedule with meetings and networking, I let my colleagues know that I was going to be hiking up on the mountain for a few hours every afternoon.
If you build a packed stressful itinerary, you may become burned out on your trip. Jumping from place to place constantly can cause fatigue. Consider staying in one location longer or plan a free day.
Time travel is building down time into the trip schedule.
Daytime or nighttime
What is your best time of day? Are you the kind of person who likes to wake up early and enjoy the sunrise and bird songs with a steaming cup of coffee? Or do you like to enjoy a late-night dinner, drinks, and some music before you snuggle deep into the covers until mid-morning?
Travel is your time of enjoyment, and you should plan your trip around what works best for you.
Another consideration is the activities, historic sites, or shopping that you want to do. What is the best time of day to visit those places?
Rick Steves recently talked about visiting famous sites in Rome during the last hour of the evening to enjoy a less crowded space.
When I was on a cruise in Greece, we were able to disembark early before the organized tour groups. We rushed to negotiate a taxi for the morning and left the busy harbor quickly. Thus, we were able to enjoy a quiet hour at ancient Olympia before the tour group buses arrived.
Time travel is knowing and utilizing the best time of the day.
Lifetime
Those of us who have dreamed of travel started forming our list of destinations as children. And most of us keep adding to the list faster than we are checking off trips.
Various destinations and activities may require a certain level of physical health to enjoy the trip of our dreams. So, considering our health and family status may be part of choosing an ideal time for a bucket list trip.
Of course, we don’t always have control of this, but certain assumptions can be considered. If your dream is to trek in Nepal, it’s probably better to plan this trip before you are retirement age. A riverboat cruise on the Danube may not carry the same sense of urgency.
I was blessed to enjoy quite a few international trips when I was in my twenties and thirties, including several wonderful tours in Europe, a visit to Egypt, a trip to China, a few days in Cuba, and a couple of trips to Paraguay. I was often chided about the time I took from work and the money I spent at such an early age in my career.
When I was forty, I got a nasty infection that triggered an autoimmune condition. That combined with the Covid-19 pandemic limited travel for me. I am so grateful that I was able to do those trips when I had the opportunity, and my energy was high level.
Time travel is not letting the best part of life pass by while you work, raise a family, or worry about daily life.
Present Time
Many of my trips have been crammed full of trying to do and see everything thing on my list. I was always rushing the present moment.
When we are in a hurry, we miss the essence of a place. We lose out on the present moment of just sitting on a bench in the city square, breathing in the aroma of the local flora and cuisine. We forget to listen to the cadence of a foreign language and regional street musicians. We see the architectural styles, but we don’t stop and ponder their significance in a different era.
A large part of the joy of travel is the slight uneasiness of being in a new place heightens our awareness. But we must tune into this awareness and be fully present in the moment. Put the phone and camera away and check in with each of our magnificent senses. Taste the subtle nuance of flavors, move to new rhythms, and breathe in more mindfully.
Time travel is tuning into your senses and deeply experiencing the beauty of the present moment.
Time Change
When we travel across time zones, we endure the physical and mental effects of the time change and it can take some time to adapt and adjust.
In a broader sense, time changes us as individuals. It changes our desires, our needs, and our likes/dislikes. Time also changes who is in our life, who we love, and how we love. And time introduces new joys along with the loss of others.
Time equals change, which makes it imperative to be kind to ourselves as we adjust.
Time travel is about letting go of the past and celebrating the birth of something new.
Abundance of Time
What if we started thinking about the abundance of time instead of the shortage of time?
We have the time to take the trip, see the people, and to enjoy the destination. Time is there for us. We simply need to shift our perspective of time.
Tender loving care of ourselves, our family, and our world takes time. But sometimes all we need is a mere moment of time to experience meaning. Change can happen in an instant. Joy can be felt in a second.
Time travel can be long or short, far away or somewhere close by. Our awareness of time, both of the present moment and the time we need for a full experience changes our travel and it changes us.
How do you want to time travel?