Remember when we could travel further than the kitchen?
..but when things open up, we might want to travel, but should we?
I consider myself to have been so lucky. When I was about eight we travelled to Italy for the first time to see family. I remember it seemed very exotic and that the neighbours’ kids didn’t really know what to make of it.
Then in the lower sixth I organised a trip (using Persil tokens) to Germany by train with some other A level German students where we stayed in a youth hostel and I seem to remember, had a great time.
I thought nothing of working all year to save up for my next trip which in my twenties and thirties were often 4 or 5 week sojourns in India, Africa and Indonesia.
I have travelled with my children, my first son and I went to Israel when he was one, Spain when he was two and he went to Poland with a neighbour to see her family without me when he was seven. My mum met my dad abroad, neither of them in their own country and both of them having lived abroad in other countries first. Travel is in our blood.
But what about now? What about the covid effect? Lockdowns? Travel bans?
What about climate change? The last foreign trip the kids and I did was to Iceland where I struggled with the cognitive dissonance of watching an iceberg calf, knowing I had contributed to its melting by flying there.
Emma is thirty, a different generation from me and so it was really interesting to hear about how she was thinking about these issues. We both love to travel, we both see how it helps us grow and change, but we also see how flying at the rate I used to, can not continue.
I’m not sure we came to any firm conclusions but there is much to be learned just from the conversation which you can listen to here or below.
Julie Leoni
Coach, author, podcaster, facilitator, Yoga and psychology teacher, learner
I have over 30 years of experience and qualification in various therapeutic and meditation/mindfulness based approaches. I work with change. Some changes we chose, others happen to us. Sometimes we know we want to change but don't know how. Sometimes we don't want to change but external events or people are forcing us to change. The menopause, children leaving home, the end of a relationship or job, becoming a parent, coming out, bereavement are just some of the personal changes I support people with. I also work with people who want to make changes to their life and wider world in response to social issues such as Covid, the climate crisis and racial, sexual and gender inequalities. Times are changing whether we want them to or not and we need to be nimble, agile, curious and open in order to part of the new story emerging. Work with me to get clear on what matters to you, what makes your heart sing and what kind of future you want for yourself and those you love. It is possible to live differently, get in touch to explore how.
