DOES TRAVELING HEAL A BROKEN HEART?

A loaded question.

With a loaded answer. Get yourself a glass of wine and a snack for this one folks.

As I sit here drafting this post, I am lying under the covers with a cold. Since I woke up to a sore throat and runny nose, I decided to eat three donuts today and get into bed at 5:30 PM. What better time to talk about heartbreak? No shame in this game. After all, my birthday celebrations commence this weekend and this girl needs to be present. Moving on…

 

Last week, I Skyped one of my dearest friends from New Zealand. Simon and I have been friends for over six years, and initially bonded over our similar relationship status: we were in love with foreigners, about to embark on long distance relationships. Over the years, we continue to relate to one another when it comes to love. We have followed similar paths, experienced similar feelings, and dealt with similar heartaches. It’s always comforting to speak to him, hear his opinion, and be reminded that I’m not alone in my opinions of love and heartbreak.

Mid-Skype sesh, the “L” word found its way into our conversation {as it always does}.

There is no need to disclose the personal information two old friends shared with one another, but the entire discussion got me thinking.

I remember being in a place in my life where I literally googled, “How to Heal a Broken Heart”. That girl wouldn’t have been able to answer the question of whether or not travel contributes to the mending of a wounded soul. That girl was simply desperate for answers. Now, however, I find myself in a place where I can comfortably weigh in on the matter.

People choose to travel for many reasons. It may be work, a family vacation, a honeymoon, a gals getaway, college reunions, high school reunions, etc. Or it could be because you just had your heart handed to you in a bajillion different pieces and need to escape for a quick sec. Heartbreak wasn’t initially what lead me to become a world traveler, but it did play a large part in it.

I was bit by the travel bug back in 2012 and I happened to be madly in love at the time. It wasn’t until years later that heartbreak would impact my life in an unexpected way.

Upon having my heart broken, I didn’t immediately jump at the idea of traveling.  Let’s be honest. I could barely move from the couch, let alone do any sort of jumping…

But eventually, the ideas began brewing {once the travel bug bites, there is no known antidote}. I planned, and saved, and planned, and saved, and saved until I could afford to live abroad for an entire year. That’s when I bought a one-way ticket to London and never looked back.

I learned more about myself in that year abroad than I had in 24 years {at that time}. I grew fearless. I was confident in my abilities as a young woman. I felt insanely independent. I was thrown into situations that forced me to rely solely on myself. I learned to appreciate my own company on a deeper level, and now tend to prefer it over large social situations. I met strangers that eventually became family to me. I was healing, and even better, I was falling in love all over again, but this time with myself.

I needed the time, and the space, to get to know myself better: what I wanted, what I didn’t, what I was willing to compromise on, the things I would never settle for. These things became so clear to me. Whether it be on the top of Primrose Hill in London, or people watching from a Parisian cafe, celebrating with strangers in Croatia, watching a sunset in Italy. In each new destination, I was discovering an additional piece of myself.

Since then, I have experienced heartache. Get this, I have actually experienced heartbreak whilst traveling abroad with the person causing me the heartbreak. I mean, if you’re going to hear it from anyone, I can personally tell you that even then, I continue to heal from travel {e.g. New York, Belize, South Korea, etc.}. That’s not to say my heart won’t be broken again, and it’s definitely not the same heart it was before, but I’m a better human for it overall. I owe a lot to my travels around this beautiful world.

In conclusion, yes, traveling did heal my broken heart. It allowed me to be lost in an unfamiliar place, all the while finding myself. It reminded me of my strengths, entitled me to forgive myself for my weaknesses, and opened my world to endless opportunities that I would have missed otherwise.  It challenged me to see the world from a new perspective, which led me to view my own situation through a difference lens.

I don’t know if any of this made sense.

But again, I have a cold and now most likely diabetes after consuming multiple donuts this afternoon.

If you are broken and looking for an answer, travel just may be it. And if it’s not the answer, I can still promise you won’t regret the choice to pack your suitcase and join the “leaving the country to get over a breakup club”. Trust me, you aren’t alone. And there is an entire world out there ready and waiting to welcome you into it.

#CatchFlightsNotFeelings