How to Enjoy the Journey

Happiness for most of us is one of the main goals in life. But where we often go wrong is finding out what path we should take to achieve that happiness.

My approach was unusual. During my last year of college, most of my peers were busy applying for full-time jobs at large companies, but I knew that this was not what I wanted to do.

I wanted to see the world, (many years before the gap was very common) was met by many. But happy, and somewhat nervous, I went alone on my journey.

I did not return until seven years later, traveling the world twice, working as an English teacher in Istanbul and Barcelona, ​​as a fruit picker at the kibbutz in Israel, at an ice rink, camp in France, and at an Australian stadium.

I traveled across the US, traveled on the Trans-Siberian railway through Asia, and traveled by dangerous buses across the Himalayas and the Andes.

It was an exciting time and it left me with some wonderful memories that will last forever. I knew that by doing this I would probably give up any opportunity to reach the top echelon of the company tree, but that did not appeal to me at all.

Worryingly, the pressure I have felt from family, friends, and the community is that I have to sit down and get a “proper” job. But I am so happy that I overcame that pressure and did not stop working abroad until I could see and get everything I wanted.

I’ve heard that there is plenty of time to have regular work after the end of my travel days, and this has proven to be okay.

Traveling taught me a lot about myself, and health, and made me think about what I wanted in this short time in the world. I realized that I wanted to get more information than money, and in my next job, that's what I did.

I have done a variety of jobs: I have been a musician, illustrator, novelist, and journalist. Most of the time, these were freelance and well-paid freelance jobs, but all was incredibly fun and gave me a wealth of life experience.

I’ve always wanted to not regret the way I spent my life, and so far I haven’t. I know that if I had spent my whole life trying to get into the corporate world I would not have been happy and now I would have cried about what I had never done in my life.

I always find it really important to enjoy every step of the way and not just hope that I'll be happy sometime later in my life.

The path I have chosen may not be for everyone, but it is an example of the importance of choosing your own path in life, and ignoring pressure from family, friends, and community.

I have seen how some people are pressured into certain jobs, often because they are considered respectable, but they hate the way they have chosen. Some may be pushed to move forward with the level of work, but then find that they hate the responsibility of management that this often brings.

People also often think that the more material things they have, the more money they will have. But while it may be difficult to be happy in a western world without money (even though some people benefit) making a lot of money and buying a lot of things may not make you happy.

Buying a new car or a yacht often boasts only temporary excitement and it seems that after a while, each upgrade to a car, house, or boat gives you more pleasure.

Studies have repeatedly shown that once a person earns a living wage - perhaps the average wage in a Western land - the levels of happiness do not go up significantly.

In a relationship, it is also important to find the right path, and to be as confident as possible to choose the right partner. And when we hope we have found them, it is very important to enjoy every moment of that relationship, not always looking to the future.

We may think that having children will make us happy, but once we have them we see all the responsibilities and difficulties it brings, and we can look back on our days without children in love. Or if we have young children we may wish they were older, but then they were young!

A common pattern in all of this is choosing the right road for the kind of person we are and finding happiness in as many places on this route as possible.

It is therefore important to look at all the good things in our lives and enjoy them fully now. That is more likely to bring happiness than to wait for it to come out of the corner.