This site and the focus of my writing is on InnerVentures which focus on adventures inside organisations and of the mind. But the latter in particular is enriched when it is combined with adventures outside. Outside of our usual circumstances and experiences and our usual habitat. This is especially the case considering the protracted limitations imposed on us through the pandemic.
The last time I travelled outside of the UK where I live was twenty months ago when I went on a business trip to Ghent in Belgium. A city I love and although I have visited before, this time it was with a German colleague. We had some spare time to visit a few attractions and the important thing is we experienced it together, but both bringing different backgrounds to our common experience. It enriched the experience all round.
I have since been away locally with family and friends and this was equally enriching. My wife and I went to Suffolk and Bournemouth which we had never been to before. Another time with friends I went hiking to Cornwall which I have done before but this time with new friends and then again with the same friends but hiking in Sussex, a place I had never been to before.
I write this having just completed a week in Italy with family in a place I have been to many times visiting the same family members but this time the difference was in the gastronomy I experienced and also some of the new places I visited.
My point is that throughout this difficult time in the pandemic, it has been the short breaks of different experiences through different sites and with different people that I have refreshed myself and enriched my mental acuity.
That travel is a boon to our wellbeing is not new. But it’s worth stating again and again. And it’s not just travel. It is also the diversity when, where and with who we travel that makes all the difference. Also that we appreciate it. I feel blessed that I am able to do these things and also mindful of the benefits they bring while experiencing them 🙏
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