In the year 1271 AD, a young man seventeen years of age left home country for what turned out to be the adventure of a lifetime. Over the course of his travels this young man traversed almost 24,000 km, encountered countless unforgettable situations, made a fortune, and finally returned home 24 years later in the year 1295 AD. His travels inspired none other than Christopher Columbus and many others to embark on their own adventures.
The young man’s name is Marco Polo and the chronicles of his experience, The Travels of Marco Polo, is famous up till this day.
Ms.K and I have just returned from our Annapurna Base Camp trek and initially I felt that it was just an amazing trek in a new country, but over the past week back in Singapore I realised that I felt THE MOST ALIVE I have been in recent years.
I found it hard to pinpoint exactly what made me feel this way. While there wasn’t any major “finding myself” breakthrough type moments, I am starting to think this feeling can be attributed to the struggles, the surprises and the joys of that 7 day journey up to ABC.
Many people have found that life starts to take on more meaning when we experience the whole gamut of emotions, the ups and downs, the highs and lows, happiness and sadness. As Pharrell Williams sang in Just a Cloud Away:
“This rainy day is temporary
The contrast is why we got ’em
‘Cause sun shining through is just a cloud away way way way way way“
The contrast is why we got ’em…That one line says it all. When life is completely stable and all we have is comfort and predictability, the joy we get out of that stability quickly fades away. Reminders of how great that first world stability is, whether from the occasional hiccup in public transport to the travails of hiking the Himalayas, enable us to experience the vicissitude of our humanity and MAKES.US.FEEL.ALIVE!
So if there is one message from today’s post that I wish to leave you with, it is to go out and explore the world around you. Take a walk in a park, go hike for a few hours in a nature reserve, climb a mountain in Borneo, learn diving in Singapore’s own Pulau Hantu (Ghost Island), or maybe even plan a trek to the North Pole!
Just do it!
P/s: Start getting inspired immediately by subscribing to our newsletter (see sidebar) and Instagram now. 🙂
