Don’t ask me what it is, but my body is not an adept traveler. After six days at home since returning from India, I’m a wreck. I wake constantly in the night due to jet lag, I’m seemingly incapable of focusing on anything but the simplest of work tasks, I’ve caught a spring cold that has me swimming in a sea of crumpled tissues, and at the risk of TMI, I dare not stray far from the bathroom thanks to some ongoing (and very explosive) intestinal distress. I’m certainly not complaining here, since I recognize how lucky I was to undertake such a unique adventure in the name of my job. But I’m conscious that the pattern I currently find myself in, a cycle of travel/suffer/recover/repeat that has plagued me my whole life, effectively dampens whatever enthusiasm I can muster at the thought of going abroad again soon.
And it’s a shame, because travel really is one of the most impactful ways to inspire growth and new perspectives. Regardless of how crummy my body feels after a trip, I always come home with a mind and heart full of fresh ideas. So I’m more than a little envious of people who can jet to exotic lands like it ain’t no thang people like Carolyn of The Slow Traveler. This Brit’s Instagram feed is a compendium of her many destinations, from the farthest reaches of Peru and Bolivia to closer-to-home locales like Barcelona and Edinburgh. The frequency with which she packs her bags makes my bowels churn, but hey, my bowels are churning anyway so why not spend a little more time getting lost in her gallery? If nothing else, it’ll help steel me for my next international affair—I’m headed to Italy in June—and provide plenty of eye candy in the meantime! (P.S. Anyone else feel me on the travel hangover struggle? Got tips on how to handle!?)
Images: The Slow Traveler.