Story: The Traveler's Zen

“Every perfect traveler always creates the country where he travels”.
Nikos Kazantzakis
Here we are, discussing with friends our perspectives on a destination; yet I can’t help but to realize that their experiences in that country are totally different than the ones I had, how come? We visited the same monuments, dined at the same restaurants and walked the same streets. Was the time of the year a factor? What did I miss? Most likely, everything.
As Nikos Kazantzakis stated in his quote; "a traveler creates his own experience wherever he visits", a traveler should always pack all of his senses, a traveler should always encourage the inner discussion, what am I sensing here? Is it pleasure? Is it fear? Always jotting down our feelings in the “Moleskine” deep inside our minds. Our highest goal should be to achieve the total nourishment of the inner self, how we approach our voyage, are we fully aware of our new surroundings? what goals do we have to fulfill? What do we strive to accomplish here? Is a photograph good enough to satisfy our need to recall? Or, are we solely relying on the experience by itself? Are we confident enough to just let our senses tell the tale?
As travelers, we should bring up our sensibilities to fully embrace every delicious morsel of experience that is presented to us. The traveler is a visiting soul, it is the one that is responsible to create it’s own experience, he is solely responsible for absorbing the moment and to make it his own. The traveler is not concern about it’s future, he is fully allowing the energy of the moment to flow and to manifest.
How am I reading this strange land? What kind of vibration am I sensing here? Am I open enough to receive this manifestation of new sights, new sounds, new people and different energy? How am I behaving? Am I embracing the culture? Am I enjoying the food? Am I respectful of their local surroundings?
Just as the aperture of a lens we can adjust our perception, we can minimize it by ignoring the details and just run around looking for sights to see; but nothing to feel, or we can enhance it and capture the full essence of our travels; the sights,the sounds, the energy, the air, and the flavors. We should embrace this magnificent “cornucopia” offered to us by closing our eyes and allowing the enlightenment and joy take place here, there and everywhere.