As I moved into the middle of my time abroad, my philosophy began to wear on me. The constant trips, the need to get so much done, telling myself “I might never be back here,” as a means of pushing myself to do more. Not everything is all sunshine and roses, and even in great opportunities lies the curse of perfectionism.
Due to the temporary nature of my trip, I endeavored to travel to a new location every weekend. This, unfortunately, had a detrimental effect on my perspective of the study abroad experience. As I spent more time in a constant state of travel, I kept searching for a small break from the exhaustion, an oasis in the desert that I had forcefully placed myself in. Due to this mindset, even small tasks became laborious, and I slowly but surely began to long for the trip to come to a close.
This, however, would not be the case, and I continued to follow my self-enforced “vacation”. With every trip, my friends would say that I was “so lucky,” and that they “wish they could do that,” while I felt the same way about the time they were spending at home, getting days to themselves, spending time with friends and family.
As I traveled, I met those who had been traveling for longer than I, from whom I learned a valuable lesson. Though they can been away from home much longer than I, they did not feel the same exhaustion that I did. I had wondered how this could be, as they had seemingly operated the same way I did. It was the next day that I found my answer.
While I had woken up early in the morning, looking to maximize my time spent by moving through attractions from open to close, they instead chose to sleep in until 3 in the afternoon. While this seemed like a waste to me, they did not see it the same way. After a few weeks of travel, they had began to feel the same way I did, trying to maximize their time everywhere they went. At some point however, they chose to step back and look at the way that they traveled. It was only by doing this that they were able to accept that they needed to take more time for themselves. Since then, while they may not have fully optimized their time and done everything they possibly could have at each location, they were able to travel for much longer without feeling exhausted.
Inspired by this, I endeavored to alter the way that I had been attacking my travels. Taking some more time for myself when needed, resting instead of rushing, and making sure to appreciate the time I had the privilege of spending in a place that so few students are able to visit.
Included, you will find images of my recent trip to Zürich! Look forward to my final post and a wrap up of the whole semester!
