My sense of self has always been connected to the ground under my feet. A California upbringing made me mellow, living in Hong Kong rewired my brain faster, and New York City now always conspires to tilt my work-life balance toward “work.”
Still, years of travel across Europe and Asia has reminded me to keep the “life” part of the equation front and center. Those experiences — from losing my suitcase in Italy and bathing elephants in Thailand to sampling the culture of Singapore — inform who I am and who I strive to be.
Travel humbles you because it illustrates just how little you know about the world and yourself. Going elsewhere reminds you that other people don’t think like you do, and that’s a good thing. It forces your sense of self to expand. You learn to make room for the infinite unfamiliar.
These experiences, too, help me remember there is more to life than work. The work-life balance equation is as much about life as it is your profession, and being passionate about your work is no excuse to ignore the whole calculus.
To be sure, it’s not just travel that can rebalance your life. It’s the people you choose to spend your time with, the hobbies and passions you nurture and the ideas you give credence.
Sure, I love what I do — being a journalist and writer doesn’t actually feel like work to me. There is no world where I wouldn’t be a writer, regardless if someone paid me to do so.
But I know I’d love my work that much more if I can better answer “What do you do?” with something other than how I earn a living.
Complement this article with how to supercharge your focus as a creative thinker, and the steps I took of to write a bestseller in a year while working as a full-time journalist.
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