In a prior post, I shared a little about me – but didn’t really explain the “why” for this trip.
Like many people, most of 2020 (and half of 2021) was a year of isolation and loneliness. Over 2020, I spent the year traveling between a small, overpriced apartment in downtown Indianapolis to my parent’s house in rural Indiana. The flexible lifestyle of 2020 left me with having two homes, but still something was missing.
The continuous repetition of 2020 left me feeling stagnated and empty. It started to become that every day, every week, every month was the same muddled mess on repeat. It wasn’t burnout – as I still had energy. It wasn’t depression – as I didn’t feel hopeless. I was just stuck. It turns out this common emotion now has a name: languishing.
Languishing is this feeling of being indifferent to indifference. While it’s neither depression or flourishing, it’s a feeling of just being trapped with a desire for change. (10/10 recommend this article about languishing.)
Traveling, hiking, and meeting new people help me flourish, so that’s what I’ve been pursuing on this trip. I’ve been able to shake the languishing feeling by spending these past 2 months exploring the western USA.
This journey has not been easy, but already very rewarding. Reflecting upon what I’ve learned:
Time zones are hard. Besides constantly converting the times between Eastern Time for all of my work meetings, Central Time for classes MBA courses with University of Illinois, and Mountain Time for local events in Denver, I’ve struggled to know when are the “best” times to wake up or to eat throughout the day. I’ve been especially tired lately staying up naturally to roughly Midnight in Denver (2AM EST), but then waking up a short 5.5 hours later around 5 AM MT (7:00 EST) to be working by 7:30AM EST. I’m going to prioritize sleep in Utah!
Structure is necessary. Trying to balance being a manager, two MBA classes, travel planning, and even writing these posts takes time. I’ve found I do best with being deliberate with my time, so I’ll literally block time on my calendar to do various tasks – like 30 minutes to write a paper, 60 minutes to create an upcoming PowerPoint deck, 30 minutes to catch up on emails, etc. By having this structure, I stay on task and complete what’s needed. (I used this strategy for exercising too – I was much less likely to not go for a swim if I had to “ignore” the notification or re-schedule it for later).
Traveling is time-consuming. Even for a simple day trip, it takes hours of researching, planning, and coordinating to ensure I’m able to maximize the day, discover new hiking trails, sift through countless Airbnbs or Campsites, discover new restaurants, download offline maps, and prepare with numerous contingencies.
Things will go wrong. Despite the planning and preparations, things will not always go as planned — and the social media pictures only show the best highlights. It’s not glamorous when you’re rejected from a camping spot just as the sun is going down. It’s frustrating when you drive an hour to hike the Narrows only to find out there’s Flash Flooding. It’s unfortunate when you accidently type in directions to a National Park, and instead of driving to the Visitor Center, you drive 45 minutes in the wrong direction to a desolate area while low on gasoline.
Despite all these challenges, would I change my current set-up? Absolutely no! It’s about the journey, not just the destination!
June in Denver, July in Utah, August in San Francisco…and then homeless come September! This journey has not been easy, but already very rewarding to me.
My favorite post so far Kyle! Love your sharing about the spirit! It's about the process~ and not the result!
Best,
Jay
Pretty awesome dude. Thanks for continuing to share you journey, both physically and emotionally.