Quotes to inspire wider horizons

I am sat here, mid September, with no travel plans. None for work.  None for pleasure.  I need to set about addressing that urgently for a mini-sun break in November and more in the spring, but until I get around to that I am stuck pondering the benefits of travel.  I love seeing all the wanderlust photos and quotes shared on Instagram and Facebook and it got me thinking – what are my words to travel by? I’ve always kept lists and I do of course have a quotes list and here are the ones that inspire me to widen my horizons… They aren’t pure travel, it’s a bit of travel, kicking back relaxing and always making the best of things. Enjoy!

Travel isn’t always pretty, it isn’t always comfortable.  Sometimes it hurts, it even breaks your heart. But that’s okay.  The journey changes you – it should change you.  It leaves marks on your memory, on your consciousness, on your heart and on your body.  You take something with you.  Hopefully you leave something good behind – Anthony Bourdain

Regardless of choice of flight class and hotel, we all see things and experience things when we travel that aren’t easy, upset us, scare us or re-ground us.  Any such experience may be a challenge at the time but it will change us and make us stronger and wiser.  Places are remembered for what happened there whether it made you smile or cry.

Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out and loudly proclaiming – ‘wow, what a ride’ – Hunter S Thompson

An old photo but I love it – quaffing fizz in the clouds on the Snowdon summit on new years eve.  It absolutely epitomises this phrase which is one I totally agree with.  The ride needs enjoying, at full pelt.  I need to remember this more often.

Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass, it is about learning to dance in the rain

A slightly more philosophical point than the one I am making in the picture – about getting out there even if it is raining, buy an umbrella or some waterproofs and make the most of the opportunity… The same point on a different level!  In a similar vein – if life gives you lemons make a G&T.  Make the best of situations and use them to make life better.  After a rotten day at work a run (sometimes in the rain) normally sorts things out.  In the same way after a rotten week at work a weekend day trip somewhere nearby has a similar impact.

Go the extra mile, its never crowded

Whenever we travel, we always look for somewhere to stay off the beaten track.  And then I look for places to visit that aren’t going to be overrun with tourists.  Here we are at a fossil forest in Greece – we almost didn’t find it (no signs or people) but when we did we had all this scenery to ourselves!

Travel is the only thing you buy that makes you richer

Not literally perhaps – unless you go to Jamaica and need about £300 of local currency to pay for your hotel stay. But in terms of experience and knowledge and understanding of cultures – some of the most valuable memories I have and things I’ve learnt have been from travelling overseas with my mind open.

We take photos as a return ticket to a moment otherwise gone

Thank goodness for the digital age and massive memory cards – taking 1000 photos in a day isn’t an issue!  I love nothing better on a winters day sat on the sofa at home scanning back through photo albums of past trips and remembering those good times and memories.  Favourite photos find their way to canvas on our walls – to be enjoyed every day.

If it scares you it might be a good thing to try – Seth Godin

On our camel trek this chap kept his nose on my leg… it scared me to start with.  Everything scares me: dark, water, ice, snakes, scree, needles – but over the years I have managed to man-up and try things.  Occasionally I surprise myself with what I can do, at other times I know exactly where my limits are!

Of all the books in the world, the best stories are found between the pages of a passport

We are lucky to have a British passport, worldwide travel is relatively easy. I love passport stamps and business visas – I love flicking through the pages (normally when queuing at Heathrow passport control…) looking at where I went and when, I only wish that as an EU resident I could get EU country stamps too!

I just need some time in a beautiful place to clear my head

I have a short attention span, but take me away to somewhere with a gorgeous view and I will enjoy it for hours, watching but not watching, thinking but not thinking.  Clearing my mind and relaxing, pondering lifes challenges and working subconsciously on ‘Project Parker’.  Often I clear my head so well that I fall asleep!

Because in the end you won’t remember the time you spent in the office or mowing your lawn.  Climb that goddamn mountain – Jack Kerouac

True true!  How many weekends have I spent working or doing house chores when there are mountains (real and otherwise) waiting to be climbed.  In our busy lives sometimes we do nothing at weekends – sometimes that is needed, but normally the best thing we can do is get outside and achieve something, no matter how small.

Travelling leaves you speechless, then turns you in to a storyteller – Ibn Battuta

And this is of course where the blog comes in!  Telling my story – to help me remember the detail, but also for others to enjoy.  A picture says a thousand words, but recording the little anecdotes is important to me so that the detail isn’t forgotten.

Start the day with a smile and end it with champagne

My favourite drink was always going to get a mention in here somewhere!  Smiling is good for you.  Champagne I think is too.  Taken together – well that’s happiness right there!  My favourite picture from our wedding – champagne, smiles and laughter as we motor down the Hamble River to our reception!  Plenty of days like this when we are away – waking up smiling knowing there’s adventures to be had and then enjoying a fizzy toast to end the day!

One minute.  Don’t read.  Don’t talk,  No photos.  Just look… and see.

Taking 1000s of pictures is one thing, but just enjoying the view – that is what comes first, last and everywhere in between.  So what if we miss capturing that “perfect” picture, by just looking and seeing we are taking in the surroundings and atmosphere and enjoying what we came for first and foremost.  I have acquired a selfie stick (note – I didn’t buy it and I’m not sure I’m going to use it) however I hate the things, I laugh we see people facing away from the view to take a selfie, before even taking the time to stop, look and see…

Always find time for the things that make you feel happy to be alive

I love travel, I love sailing and even better I love combining the two, and enjoying them with Mr P!  This summer reminded me just how blooming much I like being on the water, it makes me very happy indeed.

At the end of the day your feet should be dirty, your hair messy and your eyes sparkling – Shanti

Totally – I love it when a luxury hotel welcomes dirt and mess when they see how happy their guests are from playing outside.  Sailing or hill-walking is just another example – windblown, soggy or muddy – great fun!  I always take conditioner to get the salt, sand and tangles out of my hair – I know what I’m like!  Sundowners and banter after a fun day out adventuring really are the best ones!

Offline is the new luxury

We go offline so little that being forced offline is an absolute luxury, a novelty in fact – even in meetings the emails keep coming in and get checked under the table.  The Irish Sea has no 3G connection apart from near the coast – awesome!  Probably the first time my phone has been switched off for more than the duration of a flight.  Did I survive without it? Oh yes indeed, in fact we all did – we just got on with life unencumbered and focussed on human interaction instead!

Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow-mindedness and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts.  Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all ones lifetime.

We travel and we learn, about places near home, about cultures totally to different to ours and about history.  We meet people from different backgrounds and learn their story and tell them ours.  I learnt a lot at school, at university and then training to be an accountant, but I have learnt more about life and the world from seeing it and meeting people.

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than the ones you did do.  So throw off the bowlines.  Sail away from safe harbour.  Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.  Mark Twain

I couldn’t end on any other phrase. This does of course have nautical links, but the 3 final words – explore, dream, discover – should be words to live by.  Simple to remember too.  If I had said it I would have put dream first, everything amazing starts with a dream!