What does it mean to explore? To discover? So many people are travelling and, of course, “exploring” and “discovering” all around the world. Frankly, what is there – for a traveller, not a scientist – to discover right now, in today’s world?
Practically every corner of the world has been in one way or another discovered, explored and/or exploited (for tourism or other purposes). Unless you’re going to literally dive into the deepest depths of the ocean, there’s not much for you to claim “discovered” or “explored”. At least not when it comes to places, and normally travellers tend to associate exploring/discovering with a particular far-away place.
It’s just pointless. The times of Christopher Columbus and Marco Polo are long gone. Practically every corner of the world is already covered by TripAdviser and most of the exploring, actually, happens first there.
So, what’s there left for us who are still so eager to truly explore and truly discover something new? It will sound lame but I guess it’s ourselves. It’s human condition and all our capacities. And that is something that is so vast and so out of reach that many people never even bother to try to go there.
I came to this conclusion while travelling on horse through Mongolia. After a while, when it got really, really hard, I started asking myself – why the f*** did you even start any of this?? What do you need this for in your life?? At all??? Why???
I didn’t know the answer and I was angry at myself for doing it but at the same time I was absolutely sure that I didn’t want to quit and that I would do it no matter what! Only when I finished, when I finally fulfilled my goal to travel a piece of this mysterious country not only in a different way but, more importantly, in a suuuuper hard way, did I understand the answer.
When you reach something you thought would be impossible (something that most of people find also unimaginable) and you fight your way through it, physically and emotionally, getting only so little pleasure out if it… the moment you reach it you feel as if you had conquered the world. You feel so proud of yourself. You feel how strong you are and how much more you can accomplish. In that moment you know that nothing is impossible, and nothing beats that feeling.
Unfortunately, it’s not a feeling that lasts forever. The pride as well as the sense of personal accomplishment and fulfillment eventually start fading away (human nature of not being able to get permanent satisfaction out of anything, I guess), and when I start feeling it, I know it’s time for new adventures and challenges.
