Most of us have many little routines that propel us through daily life. We repeat the same rituals of maintenance at regular intervals. Eat, bathe, work, chores, socialize, sleep. Sometimes we flow mindlessly along in these rhythms, solely focused on keeping up with the beat, forgetting than anything else could possibly matter.

I’m no different. The repeating rhythms of my days and weeks are a source of comfort and security. I know what to expect from day to day and I’ve been doing this for a while, so I’ve got my routines well-honed for maximum efficiency. It’s so much easier to operate on autopilot, than to make conscious choices about everything all the time.

Our routines can become so ingrained that they become part of our identities. In my teens and 20s, I was a definite “night person”. My preferred sleeping hours were 2am-10am – especially since mornings are best for dreaming! Even the thought of starting work before 11am just seemed so uncivilized.

And yet that identity has distinctly shifted for me over the years and I am now a “morning person”, which is something the younger me could have never imagined. These days, my body is wide awake around 5:30am, and ready to sleep before 10pm. I really miss those lazy mornings dreaming, but no matter how tired I remain, my body is ready to rise with the sun. That works well for my current lifestyle, making getting to the office by 7am every morning manageable.

But here’s the thing… I’m about to change my rhythm dramatically. Most of the time I’ll get to sleep during the night, and I’m sure that I’ll eat at more or less regular intervals… but that’s about it for routine as I travel. There have been very few and brief times in life when I have had that sort of flexibility of schedule. Who knows if I’ll end up a morning person or a night person when I have no daily routine driving my sleep habits?

The longest I’m staying in most locations is two weeks, which is almost enough time for my body to acclimatize to daily cycles before moving on to somewhere new. I won’t have the chance to develop lasting habits in my environment, which should allow for some interesting observations.

I’d prefer to avoid any connection to the over-clichéd “finding oneself” genre of travel, but who am I kidding? I’m eager to know who I am out in the world, away from my comfort zone, away from the familiar, away from the expectations of anyone who has known me before. I’m eager to know what I’m going to learn through new experiences, and how that will affect the person I am today. And that does sound suspiciously like “finding myself”.

One of the enduring mysteries of psychology is Nature versus Nurture. Are we born as distinctly formed personalities, or are we born as a multitude of potentials to be shaped by our environment and interactions? I’m looking forward to exploring that question more on a personal level, as I leave all of my usual Nurture behind (home, family, friends, job, community, etc.) and let my Nature roam free into new experiences.

But it is no easy thing to simply “let go” of who I have known myself to be for the last forty years. Throughout the process of planning for this world adventure, I’ve come upon any number of mental brick walls that previously prevented me from considering certain possibilities. So many times I had the conversation with myself, “I can’t do that!”… “Well, why not?” My reasons were generally based in fears and prejudices, which aren’t valid reasons, and therefore had to be let go. I’m still very much in that process, clearing out the many subconscious assumptions that keep me from understanding the world (and myself) better.

I’m not usually the type to quote others, but this one from Marcus Garvey has profound meaning and deeply relates to the process I’m living:

“Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery, none but ourselves can free our minds!”

There is strong external pressure from society and well-meaning folks to be a part of the system. Keep that “good job” that gives you a sanctioned way to spend your days. It’s really the only way to get affordable health insurance and, if you’re really lucky, a few weeks every year in which to live your dreams outside of work obligations. Settle down and be predictable. Make commitments and grow roots. It’s what respectable adults do.

If I let “them” define my reality, define who I am in relation to who they think I should be, then I am something of a failure. But why would I let anyone else define my reality, especially if that’s the role they’re going to cast for me? No thanks, those voices aren’t welcome to take up space in mind. I’m too busy creating my own awesome reality to worry about Them thinking I’m wrong.

Right now, I don’t know how much of myself is ME and how much is a construct of the society in which I live. I recognize some of my distinctly American beliefs from my travels and friendships in the UK, but I haven’t experienced a broad enough perspective on the world yet to understand that fully about myself.

I am lovingly held in a web of family, friends, and community… all of whom have beliefs about who I am, how the world works, and how things should be. This is the normal condition of humanity, and those inter-relationships are undeniably a powerful shaping force on every individual – good, bad, and otherwise. I’ll be separated from those shaping forces for months, and their influence on me will lessen over the distance.

As I travel, new influences will be introduced, and gone again shortly after making an impact. New experiences will color my perception of everything that comes after. With each new destination, each new human connection, and each new spectacle of natural beauty - my capacity to understand and relate to the world will grow. I’m going out there to expand my mental boundaries and perceptions.

There is life as I have always known it, and then there is every other possibility in this huge and varied world of ours. And soon (105 days to departure!), it will be time for me to try something completely different.

Embracing the World ~O~

And Now For Something Completely Different

A Beginning

Power

Sanctuary

Comparative Luxury

Debutante

EPIC

Fear, Money, and Veggies

Holding Pattern

Transformation

Stefanie D. Warren