TED Talks are little pearls of wisdom. It is like having unlimited access to the best advice in the world, sprinkled with humor and tears. TED speakers encourage and motivate me in my quest for my best life. I am sharing with you here the travel TED talks that inspire my courage to wander.
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Why TED Talks for Wanderlust?
I believe that each decade of our lives brings with it a unique crisis of identity. That internal personal struggle we must fight through to find another authentic piece of ourselves. The teenage years a battle of independence. The twenties a battle for success. Resolving these crises are necessary to avoid becoming stuck, depressed, or unfulfilled with our journey.
I think that our forties are a battle for insight. I don’t like the term mid-life crisis, I plan to live far into my 90’s! But I believe when we are in our 40’s we have greater acceptance of our mortality. Insight that our youth is moving past us. It forces us to look upon our choices thus far and reflect. Our 40’s also urge us to be more mindful of our remaining time in this world. To not let it slip past us, stealing the opportunities to live the life we want. To fill it up.
I have found myself in this battle over the past year or so. Ultimately happy with my choices, but also coming to an insight that I wasn’t being completely mindful. I was ignoring the activities in my life that made me personally feel whole. Reading, writing, creating…and traveling. This made me begin to ponder, why do I need to travel? What is it that makes my soul feel alive when I am somewhere unfamiliar? Here are some of my favorite TED Talks that have helped to answer this for me.
Kill Your Bucket List By Edward Readicker-Henderson
Edward Readicker-Henderson’s travel TED talk is life changing. I have a bucket list and had not considered the intention of this practice. I think I have always seen the practice of a bucket list as a way to ensure I am filling my life up with activities and travels that I want to have in my life. However, after listening to this talk…I see it a bit differently. I will always be mindful about my life and try to be adventurous. But a to do list before I die is not how I want to live my life.
Readicker-Henderson passed away recently and he leaves us with this inspiration. Live to be alive. Take a listen:
Point to Ponder: “Live to be alive.”
The Value of Travel By Rick Steves
Travel opens doors, but it also opens your eyes to realize how small you really are. How big the world is. How many different realities there are. When we know only our own small little piece of this world, experience only our own culture, it makes our lives smaller. Seeking to live more authentically, we must become more aware of ourselves and how we relate to the world around us. When we experience only what we already know, we can never grow.
The opportunity to see other cultures and other “normal” life, promotes tolerance and growth as worldly people. Travel forwards our own personal journey but creates the chance to move us forward as a collective people. Some of my best experiences in travel resulted from an interaction with another person and learning from them a way to see the world differently than I had before.
Rick Steves’ perspective is enlightening and promotes tolerance and curiosity in how we approach the many cultures of the world through travel. Everyone should watch it! Check it out here:
Point to Ponder: “Fear is for people who don’t get out much.”
The Art of Stillness By Pico Iyer
The Art of Stillness is a different perspective on travel. Pico Iyer’s TED talk urges the traveler to use experiences in travel in a much different manner. Iyer promotes the need to sit still with the experiences of our lives, including travel. What I love about this travel TED talk is the reminder to use our travel experiences as a way to reflect on how we want these journeys to change our lives and the perspectives we have on our life within this world. If we do not allow our travel to change us, what is it for?
The luxury of paying attention…travel allows us the luxury to take a step away from our daily routines. To reflect, to change, evolve and grow. Take a listen here:
Point to Ponder: “And in an age of distraction, nothing is so luxurious as paying attention.”
Don’t wait. Wander. Move through your life with purpose. Whether it is travel or some other means of finding yourself…do it. Life will not wait for you. Be courageous! Wander well…