How to get closer to yourself through travel

✨️Do you like traveling?

I don’t understand why they put boiled eggs on something like a candlestick, crack the head and scoop it out with a teaspoon, but I do it anyway. Even if I put aside my tastes and listen objectively, I want to sit in a cafe and listen to a song that I can’t understand why it is the number one song in this country. Unlike me, who feels guilty for a week when I eat late at night, I eat to my heart’s content among the people who take it for granted that they eat at midnight.

I like traveling alone, thinking about various things. It’s fun to be exposed to new things in a completely unfamiliar place. It feels amazing to travel around the world on my own. So, at the end of November, I decided to go on a solo trip to Europe for about two weeks. I plan to stay in small towns in Germany and Switzerland rather than tourist destinations.

✨️Travel is a time to get to know me

Especially when I travel, I get to spend time with myself and see a new side of myself. So on this trip, I wanted to spend time getting to know myself in more detail, so I created a list of questions with ChatGPT. Preparing questions in advance for interviewing me?

The list consists of 24 questions spread out according to 8 themes related to ‘inner exploration’. The idea is to take an abstract theme that may be difficult to answer at once and make it concrete through thoughts and feelings from the travel destination.

The list of questions is as shown in the table below. If I were alone, it would have taken me over an hour to worry and fret, but with GPT, I made it in just 5 minutes. Although it may not be perfect, I think it contains a lot of food for thought. If there are other themes you like, it might be fun to create your own list of questions, either on your own or with GPT.

GPT reminds me… It’s really smart.

If we write down the eight themes in the table again, they are as follows. During the two weeks of my trip, I’m going to ask myself questions and take the time to think about the answers.

1. What is the life I really want?

2. Where can we find small happiness every day?

3. What kind of person are you happy with?

4. When do I feel like I am myself?

5. What am I afraid of?

6. What is the difference between my past self and my present self?

7. What are my dreams for the future?

8. What is the most important value in my life?

✨️We are all travelers who came to Earth to learn about life

This is a passage from poet Ryu Si-hwa’s book ‘A Traveler by Planet Earth’. As the saying goes, ‘Everyday life is like a trip, and travel is like everyday life,’ I don’t think traveling is necessarily about going far away. Walking down an untrodden path in your neighborhood or wandering around at your own pace without looking at a map will be a special experience. As the end of the year approaches, how about going on a trip somewhere and getting closer to your 2024 self?

end.