Is traveling really everything?

Yesterday as I was trying to think of what things I need to start doing in order to start living a more fulfilling life, I decided that I need to do some traveling. I figured for now I would try to plan some domestic trips. I would like to visit New York, for example. I used to live there. I went to Junior High in Brooklyn and High School in Manhattan. But I haven’t been to New York in a long while. Unfortunately New York is pretty far from where I live and I don’t do air travel. So it would take a very long time to get there either by bus or train.

I know when people talk about traveling and they say things like traveling is everything, they’re not talking about domestic travel. They’re talking about international travel.

Some people say you haven’t really lived unless you’ve traveled. These people would suggest that a life cannot be fulfilling if it does not involve travel. They would insist that in order to live a more fulfilling life, one would need to go off and explore the world.

There are places in the world I have wanted to visit; but my desire to travel to these places has never been so strong that it has prompted me to try to get help to overcome my fear of flying. I’m sure I would enjoy the experience of visiting other places in the world, but I’m not convinced that never having traveled will be my biggest regret at the end of my life. When I look back, I don’t think I will have a heavy heart when I think of all the places I had never been. So I would have to disagree with the idea that traveling is necessary if I am to live a more fulfilling life.

What does a person need for their life to be fulfilled?

Some people say you need activity. You need adventure. You need to explore the world, experience life. But there are people in the world who feel perfectly fulfilled who are not adventurers off seeking and searching to discover what lies underneath every stone at ever corner of the world.

I am not an adventurous person. While I do enjoy the experience when I am able to go places and do things, I don’t think my life is unfulfilled just because I’ve never been to this place or that place. I believe that traveling enhances peoples lives; but I don’t think that my life is made less meaningful by my being unable to travel. There are places in the world that I would love to visit. Italy and Greece to name a couple.

Who wouldn’t feel a sense of wonder and fulfillment to be sitting inside the scene shown in the picture above?

But that kind of fleeting fulfillment isn’t the kind that gives life real meaning. The fact is, your life can have meaning even if you’ve never left the town where you were born. And your life can have no meaning (by your own perception) even if you are widely traveled. There are people who have been everywhere, seen everything, done everything, who have committed suicide. Despite having it all, they did not feel fulfilled in life.

I agree that activity is important. And it can be fun to venture away from your comfort zone. But I think it’s important that a person is able to live a more fulfilling life without having to go to the ends of the earth searching for the fulfillment they seek. I think I would have to agree that true fulfillment comes from within. By all means travel and enjoy life. But if you’re not inclined to travel and if you prefer to sit at home and have a laugh with family while watching your favorite comedy on television, that can be just as fulfilling a life as the well-traveled individual’s life.