Three Month Theory, Living in the Now and Routine

Three Month Theory

When I was twenty one I moved back to LA, but to a different area from where I had gone to school. I had a new job, home and eventually new friends. Going from knowing nobody to feeling well adjusted in my work, social interactions and navigating the city, took three months. I’ve observed other people making big moves and it always takes about three months to stop feeling homesick and to have formed a network of support. 

I wasn’t aware that the​ ​three month theory could relate to something as broad as a continent, until I went to Africa. My first three months: Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania were rough. Then suddenly I got to Malawi and I felt like I had this solo traveling in Africa thing down. I had grown the tough skin I needed and had learned to laugh off the things that had previously gotten under my skin. If you have an extended trip planned somewhere but feel like giving up towards the start, remember my theory and try to stick it out at least until three months. 

 

Living in the Now

Traveling is one of the easiest ways to be the best version of yourself AKA living in the now. In the routine of our daily lives we often replay the past or daydream about the future. When you’re traveling and constantly taking in new experiences it forces you to live in the present. There was a point in my Africa travels when I realized I was finally living in the now in a way I had never previously accomplished. I had so many exciting things on the horizon: my sister was flying into Zanzibar, I was doing a safari in Zambia, then ending my trip in Namibia which was my entire reason for being in Africa. Thinking farther in the future I had India and Nepal on the horizon. If I thought about the future I could get myself excited but no more excited than I was in that current moment. 

I think one thing that allows me to live fully in the moment is not having an ending date to my trip. A few years ago when my sister and I went to SEA, everything was extremely exciting and amazing until we were halfway over with our trip. At the halfway plus a day point, I started to get nostalgic. Everything we did had the bittersweet taste of knowing that in X amount of weeks I’d be back in LA working again. It is hard to fully enjoy the moment if you are clouding your mind with sadness about the now ending. If you’ve ever experienced this, I suggest you buy a one way ticket the next time you travel. Keep enough in your savings to go home in a pinch, but don’t have a return date planned out in advance. This way everyday seems like a never ending magical journey. 

 

Routine

I’ve always considered myself a spontaneous person but one thing I discovered about myself while traveling is that I love routine. Perhaps this only happened because I’m traveling. With my location, environment, and volunteer work constantly changing I need something constant in my life in order to keep my sanity. I found routine in the little things. I traveled with a container of instant coffee and every morning I’d have a coffee. I set a goal of reading 100 pages of a book a day and stuck to it. When I was in Namibia, volunteering in the bush, I added a one hour daily dance session to my routine. That was amazing because despite loving to dance, I had to give it up during my travels. I received enough attention just because of my skin color, I couldn’t possibly have a dance party in the street. If you are touch with yourself and the things that make you happy, then you can set up a schedule of simple things you can do despite your changing environment.