‘Our Biggest Lesson’
I’ve always believed that travelling is one of life’s greatest teachers.
When you put yourself in a multitude of unfamiliar situations, meet and connect with strangers, and have to constantly decide on matters with imperfect information, you realise where your boundaries lie and what stays constant amid the change.
You become more aware of your own illusions and blinkered existence, as well as the contrasts and similarities between you and others.
We drove close to 3,000km in a tuk-tuk from Rajasthan to Cochin, driving more than eight hours a day continuously for two weeks.
This mode of travel was unlike anything we had ever done, and these lessons of the road will stay with us for the rest of our lives.
Along the way
There is so much to share about what we’ve learnt, but I think one of the biggest lessons has been about how the journey counts more than the destination.
It’s one of those things that sounds obvious when you hear or read it, but until you live out experientially what this means, it’s just theoretical.
We tend to always think about the long run, the big picture – we put off certain things and decisions waiting for a perfect moment to arise, or the best way to get something done.
We sometimes get so focused on a faraway tree – our end goal, purpose of life, overarching mission — it can sometimes be paralysing.
We want a paradigm shift in a single move, or romance and drama concentrated on one focal point.
It doesn’t happen that way.
The long haul of greatness is composed of small, present moments. There is never a perfect moment, only the one that is passing now.
Our biggest lesson has been about this balance between then and now, to keep the destination in mind but pay close attention to how we get there as well.
To not only care about the results; to make do with what you have and to deal with uncertainty.
It’s taught us how to stay in motion while keeping present, to be grateful for the little things, and that life is made up of ordinary moments made extraordinary in totality.
Time does not make things happen; we do. If there is anything you've ever wanted to do, now is the best time for it.
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