I learned a few things while living on the road these last fifteen months. They are simple things that I think I’d learned previously but had forgotten. That is one thing travel does well, it shifts the course of things if you let it, revealing both old and new.

The sun comes up in the morning and goes down in the evening. Likewise, the day will pass of its own accord. These things occur naturally regardless of one’s plans. While traveling, I found myself frequently summarizing, “Well, another day that took care of itself.” Travel without an agenda is liberating this way. It is less an experience of managing a day and more a realization of the day’s flow.  I wish to make my life more flow, less managing.

Do less. I borrow from Marcus Aurelius on this one:

“If you seek tranquility, do less. Do what’s essential. Do less, better.”

Travel days were best when we did something, but not everything. We did less, but we did it better. It falls into the realm of better understanding one’s nature. If you have some insight into your nature, exploit it. You don’t have to swing for the fences every time, but nurture what works for you. We fell into a natural rhythm on this trip, a gentle flow of following our curiosity. I wish to make my life less wide, but deeper in this way.

We spent a good bit of time in rural America, on back roads and in little towns. The people we met were for the most part kind and warm. But rural America is a hard place. Too often I found myself in judgement, in judgement of the powerful forces at work that make for such hardship; and, honestly, too often in judgement of the people subjected to such challenges. I was a blue traveler in a red country. And what to make of that? Smile. Say thank you. Be pleasant. Listen well. Look a person in the eye. The web of existence links us all. I wish to remember and better practice that.