by Penny Sadler
About 15 years ago, I decided to write a travel blog. The goal was to do creative things that were not simply related to work or making money. Plus, I wanted to do something that felt meaningful to me.
At that time, I made an annual pilgrimage to Italy. I lived for those trips. On my first day exploring Rome, I must have walked 20,000 steps. But I wasn’t counting. I was breathing in Rome and trying to absorb its essence.
I felt that Rome was overwhelming. Monuments, abandoned, people were greater than life. As soon as I left, I was planning my next trip.
In Rome, I learned how to relax and enjoy life. And I learned that travelling lives my joy.
“Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what brings you to life and do that because what the world needs is people who live.” Howard Thurman, meditation on the mind
At home during the trip, I connected with as many fellow Italophiles as possible.
But connecting with people from other countries and languages was a place where I had a real joy. I wasn’t fluent in Italian, but the Italians were friendly and helpful. I’m not an extrovert, but when I travel, I interact with the world in a more authentic way. Soon, I had the idea of sharing my Italian adventures through a blog.
By chance, I met a woman on Twitter, a social media platform that published a website about travel and education. I messaged her and asked if I could write anything about Italy for her website.
She not only helped me create the first online article for the website, not my own, but also taught me how to get my travel blog up and running. The early days I wrote blog content were happy days.
Readers will send me a message that my article made me feel like they were with me. Or that after reading the stories I wrote, they booked a trip. These comments made me happy and it was clear that the joy I received from the trip had come through my writing.
Ask a psychologist, poet, theologian, or musician to define pleasure and you get four different but similar replies. However, a common thread is that joy comes from a purpose in respecting life, nature, and one’s values.
The poet Rilke connects joy with the need for creation. A deep desire to do something that gives meaning to life, a poem, to him.
For me, joy is closely linked to curiosity and intuition, leading me to travel. From a very young age I was interested in other people, places and culture. I also enjoyed writing, but I didn’t dream of combining travel with writing. It happened because I followed my intuition.
I didn’t consciously decide to travel because I found it fun. Much later, I learned that intuition, purpose and joy were in line with each other. When I followed my intuition, joy was the result…it lasted and rewarding in ways I never imagined.
It wasn’t long before the publisher wrote about their destinations and asked if they would pay for my trip. All the trips I have done since have been a learning experience, resulting in healthier relationships, self-awareness, interesting writing challenges, travel and more joy.
Doing what I loved unfolds a new life, a life of travel and joy, better than any life I could imagine.
Author:
Bio: Penny Sadler is a Dallas-based author covering travel, food and drinks and lifestyles, featuring a professor of CNBC Travel, Culture Magazines, Inside Hooks and Cheese. When she’s not traveling, she offers intuitive reading and coaching for her private clients and events. For more information about Penny, check out her site intuitive and Instagram @Adventuresofacarryon
Source: Spiritual Media Blog – www.spiritualmediablog.com
