THE lawn IS never GREENER

Updated: 12/04/19 | December 4th, 2019

As I lay on a beach of the island of Ko Lipe in Thailand, my Kiwi good friend Paul counted on me as well as asked nonchalantly, “Backgammon?”

“Of course,” I replied. “What else is there to do?”

We’d play for hours before heading to our preferred restaurant in the “town center.” The owner would show us Thai as well as the regional Chao Lay language while chuckling at our inability to manage spicy food. We’d laugh together with him, share some jokes, as well as head back to the beach.

Then, at night, we’d walk barefoot to the island’s primary beach and, with the generators buzzing in the background, drink as well as smoke with our other good friends into the wee hours of the morning.

When the generators turned off as well as we only had starlight to light our way, we would quote each other great night up until morning, when we would do everything over again.

When I very first started traveling, I envisioned myself as Indiana Jones on the quest for the holy Grail (definitely not some odd crystal-skull area aliens like in the last movie). My holy Grail was that best travel moment in some off-the-beaten-path city nobody had ever checked out before. There, I’d have a possibility encounter with a regional that would provide me a window into the regional culture, modification my life, as well as open my eyes to the appeal of humanity.

In short, I was trying to find my version of The Beach.

The beach was a book published in the 1990s about backpackers in Thailand who, fed up with the commercialization of the backpacker path in Asia, sought out a a lot more authentic, excellent paradise.

It crystallized what backpackers envision themselves doing.

Ko Lipe was an island full of banana pancakes, Wi-Fi, as well as tourists. It wasn’t that location nobody had ever heard about, however it was my paradise. just off the vacationer path sufficient to be remote however still on it sufficient where I’d have some contemporary amenities.

To me, The beach exists. It’s not a specific location or destination. It’s a moment in time when total strangers from opposite ends of the world come together, share memories, as well as produce bonds that last forever.

You discover those moments regularly when you travel, as well as when you do, you begin to recognize what travel has been trying to show you from the beginning:

No matter where you are in the world, we’re all truly the same.

And that basic realization is the most interesting “Aha!” moment you can ever experience.

After my trip to Costa Rica, my mind couldn’t stop believing about elsewhere. somewhere else was a location of foreign lands as well as people.

Of hiking.

Of discovery.

Of cafes chuckling with new friends.

Of freedom.

Of unencumbered possibility.

My present life was a prison. A prison that kept my new discovered uncaged spirit confined to routine as well as dread. I had seen the light in Costa Rica. available in the world, people were repeating my experience while I went into data into Microsoft programs as well as arranged phone calls as well as meetings for my boss.

If only I was available in my mythical elsewhere, my life would be much better as well as a lot more exciting.

But traveling around the world has taught me that the lawn on your neighbor’s yard is the precise exact same shade of eco-friendly as your own.

The a lot more you travel, the a lot more you recognize that everyday life as well as people around the world are precisely the same.

Everyone wakes up, concerns about their kids, their weight, their friends, as well as their job. They commute. They kick back on the weekend. The go grocery shopping. They listen to music as well as like movies. They laugh, they cry, as well as concern just like you.

How they do these things may be different however why they do them isn’t.

Humans are the exact same no matter where you go in the world.

Local culture is just exactly how different people do things. I like exactly how the French obsess over wine, the Japanese are so polite, Scandinavians like their rules, Thais seem to have a clock that is permanently 20 minutes late, as well as Latin cultures are passionate as well as fiery.

That is culture. That range is why I travel.

I want to see exactly how people online life around the world, from the farmers on the Mongolian steppe to the office workers in fast-paced Tokyo to the tribes of the Amazon. What’s the regional handle the mundane stuff that I do back home?

Bill Bryson when stated we travel to enjoy with enjoyment people doing the mundane stuff we do back home.

I believe he’s right.

We may want to believe that the world is nonstop enjoyment anywhere however where we are — but it’s not.

It’s the same.

I utilized to online in Bangkok mentor English. While I had versatile hours, I still dealt with commutes, bills, landlords, using fits to work, as well as whatever else that includes an office job. ខុ្ញបុរិសgot together with good friends after work for dinner as well as drinks as well as did everything over once again the next day.

There I was, continents away from home, as well as I was just living my 9 to 5 around again. It felt different to me since it was in a new location — but, as I show on it now, it was necessary the exact same thing however different background.

And all the locals around me envisioned life back in the united states as interesting as I envisioned life in other countries.

The daily life of people halfway across the world is no different than yours.

You’ll discover people doing things in a different way anywhere you are. Sure, it’s fun eating on the Seine, sailing the Greek islands, or racing a motorcycle around Hanoi. however locals aren’t doing that every day. They’re just living their lives (I indicate believe of exactly how commonly you’re a vacationer in your own town? Not commonly I bet).

When you recognize exactly how alike our lives are, you recognize we’re all in this together. You no longer see people as some “other,” however instead acknowledge yourself in them — the exact same struggles, hopes, dreams, as well as wishes you have, they have for themselves.

That’s the most crucial lesson I’ve discovered after ten years as a nomad.

And so, when an interviewer asked me last week about the biggest thing traveling the world has taught me, my mind instantaneously raced with all those moments on Ko Lipe, as well as without hesitation, I replied:

“We’re all the same.”

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