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The Challenges and Spiritual Lessons of Traveling

The Challenges and Spiritual Lessons of Traveling

Last updated on: August 26, 2024 at 8:26 am by Mark Wilson

The Challenges and Spiritual Lessons of Traveling 2024-08-26T08:26:20-05:00 Mark Wilson

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Kristin and I both recently returned from traveling to Ireland.

Today I have to return to the real world and resume my activities.
Not sure I’m ready to go back to normal from visiting
A land of greenfields and ancient castles.
Doesn’t matter how I feel, it’s time.

We had a grand lovely experience while traveling and visiting historic sites and extended family members.
I’m gonna write a whole post dedicated to that.
But every great adventure like normal life is not without its challenges.
Sleep deprivation and sore feet are some things that I had to deal with on this trip and in my ordinary everyday life.
I also had to to bring my head full of emotional baggage with me on my trip and I didn’t need to check it at the airport.

The challenges don’t take away from the good aspects of going overseas but provided a chance for spiritual lessons for reflection.
We can either shrivel into a corner when faced with problems or use them as a chance for growth.
This is not just true of this one particular section of life but of everyday occurrences.
And I want to share these challenges to clear my mind so I can concentrate and have fun with my next post.

Traveling is Both Exciting and Nerve Racking

The exciting part consists of doing something unusual out of your normal routine.
The nerve racking part consists of doing something unusual out of your normal routine.

One of those unusual routines consists of the preparation in getting to and from your desired destination.

“Where are the tickets?”
“Where are the passports?’
“Did I forget something important to bring with me”
“What if I get kidnapped by leprechauns or the IRA?”

You want to make sure that you have all that you need before you go on a trip overseas.
Before you die you want to make sure that you have all you need when you get to you destination.
As Christians we understand that as love for the Trinity and our neighbor.
As Catholics we understand that as partaking in the sacraments (communion, confession) for spiritual growth and the forgiveness of our sins.
We want to be ready when we come to our destination.

Learning to Live With Others

I want to paint a snapshot of where we were in life on our first trip overseas and again on our second trip.

When we first went to Ireland in 2018 our daughter had recently moved out of the house in Framingham Massachusetts to go live with a guy named Sam she had recently met after going out one evening. Her boyfriend that she had convinced to come live with us about a month earlier, named Spencer, was left home to become garda of the house. That’s a story for another time.

6 years later Kristin and I live alone in a condo in Cranston Rhode Island. It’s been at least four years since sharing space with other folks. But during our vacation we had to share space with 3 to four other people.

That was both challenging and rewarding.

It’s challenging for me anyway, because I’m so used to going to work and coming home and just isolating myself from others after spending a day working with and serving others. My brain feels on overload and has to decompress from all the stimuli running through my head. Seeing it’s just me and Kristin living alone I can easily disappear after spending time with her in to my writer’s cave upstairs while Kristin has her contemplative prayer space downstairs. When you live with other people you have to learn how to navigate with others who have different perspectives, temperaments, and desires about how things should be done. You can’t just do what you want when you want to. You have to consider the others around you.

You also have to navigate from seeking too much attention from others
and seeking to check out from sharing yourself with others.
Always a hard balance.

It is rewarding to actually have others around that you can make memories with and who you know have your back. It’s also good to get out of your comfort zone and learn to live with others. It makes you realize that it’s not all about you. That helps with humility and learning how to love and respect others. And when others get on your nerves and when you get on theirs, you practice the art of forgiveness and charity. It’s not always easy to do, but living with others helps you sharpen those skills.

Not in Charge

When Kristin and I went to Colorado last August we decided where we went and when.
This trip my in-laws were in charge and decided where we went and when.
It’s both a challenge and a relief not to be in charge.
It’s a challenge because, well let’s be honest, we all like to call the shots.
It’s a relief to actually not have to make all the decisions about things.

I work in a nursing home where people who have lived their lives now have to rely on others to take care of them.
If we live long enough, that will be us in the same situation.
Not being in charge when your not normally used to it is a preparation for the future when you won’t be in charge.
It is a healthy thing.

Vacation Detachment

This vacation was an opportunity to get dethatched from unhealthy habits.
This vacation was an opportunity to get detached from being in control.
This vacation was an opportunity to get detached from just thinking about myself.
This vacation was an opportunity to get detached from social media.

Detachment is a purgatorial experience.
In catholic theology purgatory is the anteroom of heaven where you get stripped of any earthly attachments that prevent you from being fully attached to God.
Going on Vacation can help you detach from your mundane life to something different and unique.

The good aspect of social media is taking pictures and sharing it with your friends on Facebook.
Others get to experience your experience and don’t have to wait weeks to do so.

The bad aspect of social media is that it can be addicting.
For me personally social media groups suck the most life out of me.
These consist of political and religious groups where people share their contrary opinions about these issues.
When someone expresses an opinion that you feel is wrong you can develop a strong desire to correct them.
That can lead to loads of time checking out their responses when they respond to your responses.
It can involve time checking out and researching facts when you could be enjoying your time doing other things.
Such as enjoying your vacation.

Thankfully not having access to social media while driving in the car to different destinations was a blessing.
Thankfully having to rely on limited access to charging my phone due to the different European electrical plugs was a blessing.

When you feel a need to always correct and answer someone with contrary opinions it can suck the enjoyment out of life.

“Hold Lightly to the Things of This World” (1 Corinthians 7:29-31)

These challenges took away from some of my enjoyment of my holiday.
It didn’t destroy it.
I’m glad that I left home to have an experience I normally wouldn’t have.
It was good.

It was also good that I didn’t have a perfect time.
There are others in this life who don’t get to experience any good time at all.
And there will be a time when we have to depart this life and we will have to let go of all the good things of this world.
It is best not to be too attached to things that will eventually be ripped from you.

Bishop Barron quotes St.Augustine who said
“Take in the countryside. Enjoy it. Beautiful.
But don’t get caught up in it.
Your not meant to be on this litter for the rest of your life.”

Bishop Barron provides some insight into spiritual food for the journey by talking about traveling.
Interesting this came out while we were on our trip.

Final Thoughts

Going to Ireland provided some challenges among the enjoyment.
But that provided an opportunity for spiritual growth.
When I became distressed it caused me to seek out God in prayer for strength.
I know I couldn’t do it on my on.
I must add driving on the narrow roads of Ireland
with cars whizzing by you at high speeds also increases the need for prayer.

I also wanted to take in the gift of the countryside
God created and my in-laws provided an opportunity to experience
and enjoy it to the best of my ability
despite the emotional struggles raging in my heart and mind.
I’m thankful to both for my trip to Ireland.

Now that I cleared my head of the rocky road to Ireland
in the next blog post about Ireland I will talk about all the neat and cool things
Kristin and I experienced together in our 2 trips to there.

Bonus Spiritual Lessons

Seeing this post is about spiritual lessons learned while traveling,
Here are some thoughts from Fr. Casey Cole about his travels it Ireland.

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