Living in the Now: Travel in 4D

Sam Chillingworth, a high school classmate, friend, and now featured writer in the inspiring book series Wake Up… Live the Life you Love, recently passed on a book he contributed to called Living in the Now. At the time, I had just returned from a two-month trip to the mainland and Peru, and (as I usually do when I return from a trip) was experiencing a bad case of travel hangover.

There’s nothing like reading a collection of inspiring essays about embracing life and some of the tips I found were so helpful in putting life — and, more importantly, travel — in perspective that I thought it would be worthwhile passing on some life and travel wisdom to ye faithful Gadling readers. Seeing that the new year is so quickly approaching, these tips should generate some good ideas for your 2010 resolution(s). Here’s the first one — of three:

Chuck A. Reynolds, an inspirational life coach, writes that living in the now is all about achieving life in 4D — those four D’s being Destination, Decisions, Discipline, and Determination. He says, “Waking up and living each day without clearly written goals is like riding in a bumper car with your foot on the pedal, but your hands tied behind your back instead of on the steering wheel.” I couldn’t agree more with this statement. The journey of life is too short to not be as deliberate and intent as possible.

The 4 D’s that Reynolds maps out in his essay relate to travel so directly.

  • Destination: When traveling, always consider your destination. Where are you going — and why?
  • Decisions: While you are abroad, be very deliberate about the choices you make — even the small ones, like where you want to have lunch or when you will move on to the next city.
  • Discipline: Stay focused on the road, and be respectful of the culture of the place you’re visiting.
  • Determination: Take advantage of as many experiences as you can while abroad. You don’t want to look back and regret not doing something.

Living in the now and the art of travel are so intimately tied that, for both the frequent and infrequent wanderer, it’s a great idea to put these 4D’s to the test — both in life and on the road. Happy travels!