Most people don’t like to be lost.
They don’t like feeling out of the loop, or like
they’ve missed something. Most of all,
they don’t like feeling vulnerable in a strange place. But, the more
I’ve traveled, the more I’ve come to realize that, sometimes, getting lost is okay. In fact, getting lost can often
be better than finding your way on the first try.
Getting lost helps
you hone your problem-solving skills.
Finding yourself lost in a foreign country or
strange city can be scary at first. But, instead of looking at it as a
potentially devastating situation, try looking at it as an opportunity to
hone skills that are important to every traveler.
Get out a map, and learn how to read it. Get over
your pig-headedness and ask someone for directions. Look at being lost as an
opportunity to test your problem-solving skills. You’ll not only figure out how
to get back on the right track, but doing so on your own will leave you feeling
like you accomplished something.
Going through this a few times will leave you more
prepared in the future.
Getting lost can
lead to unexpected adventures.
Being lost doesn’t automatically mean things must
come to a halt. If you’re on foot and find yourself lost, take a stroll around
the nearby area and see what you might find. If you’re lost in a car, perhaps
just follow the road and see where it takes you.
As long as you’re not on a strict schedule, getting
lost can often lead to discovering places or things that you might have totally
missed otherwise. After all, they can’t put EVERYTHING in the guide book. View being lost as an opportunity, and not as
a setback. Maybe that wrong turn will lead you on an unexpected
adventure. It never hurts to explore.
Getting lost can help you learn how to relax and go
with the travel flow.
Many people approach travel with the assumption
that everything will go according to plan that schedules will be adhered to and
timeframes will be met. If you’re one of these people, you are kidding
yourself.
Travel is unpredictable. Places and people are
constantly changing. And, when you’re traveling, chances are that things WILL
go wrong. .Accepting that you may get lost along the way will help you
to accept that travel isn’t always perfect, and doesn’t always go the way you
want it to, or the way you expected it to.
