- Rapping out of a cave in the middle of the Thaiwand Wall, Thailand after weathering a squall.
Get bored quickly when you are sitting on the beach? Worn down by hours of bus rides to ANOTHER temple? Tired of that itchy, “I’m stuck in the gringo super highway” feeling? Try traveling with a purpose!
We all do it. We sit at home and talk big talk about traveling to far flung places and imagine how exciting and wonderful it will be when we get there. We read the loony planet guide like a thousand times on the toilet, book marking “must see, must go” places. Our planned month in Laos could not be more jam packed with awesomeness. Until we get there.
Turns out all the other gringos (I use this term loosely) on planet earth have the same loony planet as you. That really quite, clean and authentic guest house with the private bath you were planning on staying at is booked full and you have to settle for a dive down the road filled wall to wall with wasted 17 year Brits on the “gap” year (mom and pops funded foreign debauchery for those of you who speak American Ingles).
Not only are those raving mad euro teens at your hostel they are on your bus, at the temple, at the beach (which loony planet said was “secluded and idyllic”!) at your restaurant and haunting your dreams. They are robbing you of your cultural awakening!
What you need is to travel with a purpose.
Having a goal in mind while traveling is a game changer. I, personally, like climbing or surfing as a focal point for foreign travel. Here is why I don’t just “travel” anymore. Traveling with a purpose, or a sport, in mind gives immediate access to a community of people. If you are climbing or surfing at a bad ass spot there are locals tearing it up there too and you will get to know them, not to mention you will get to make immediate friends with other gringos who are not wasted slobs. There is an immediate bond between surfers in the line up or climbers at the crag. You share something in common that transcends culture. It’s the best ice breaker ever.
Deep water soloing in Vietnam. An excellent "purpose" when in Ha Long Bay.
When you seek out your destinations based on their quality of climbing, surfing or scuba diving, for example, you are inherently choosing beautiful places. More importantly you are choosing to actively interact with those environments. Sitting back and looking at waves breaking over the reef is one thing. Dropping in and watching the living reef whiz beneath you through the crystal clear water might change your life.
Of course, if you are a more beautiful and less hedonistically inclined person than me, you can choose to do volunteer work as the purpose of your trip. This is a sure fire way of getting to know some locals and hopefully making some very deep and meaningful human connections to the place you are visiting.
Your purpose can be anything. Anything you are passionate about. Your purpose will act as a lens, focusing your travels, bringing into view details of the place and its culture that would otherwise have gone unnoticed. In pursuing your purpose you will ask strangers for rides. They might invite you in for tea. You will talk for hours and remember them fondly for the rest of your life.
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