“So you can run to the end of the highway, And not find what you're looking for No, it won't make your troubles disappear; And you can search to the end of the highway, And come back no better than before, To find yourself you've got to start right here…”---Keith Green
Travel to escape and rejuvenate is a good thing. Travel just to escape shows lack of character and wisdom. The key problem with escaping for escapings’ sake is that you have to take yourself with you. Of course folks try to get around that by becoming somebody else via sex, alcohol or drugs but self comes back with a vengeance the next morning.
A vacation should be restorative. It’s the idea of Sabbath expanded to weeks or months. Sightseeing is fun and exhilarating but if it leaves you more tired than when you left your ‘real’ life you were running not recharging. The goal should be to return from an adventure fresh and ready to run the race. Physically you should be rested. Mentally you should be awake and agile.
Catching up with old friends or making new ones is helpful. Friends have a way of seeing and laughing that refreshes perspective and provokes thought. A good friend will drive you toward fullness in your goals, target and trajectory. Talking to God will do these as well. Getting away from home and into nature can accomplish some of this as well. It gives you a perspective of God and your fit in the world. Huge lakes and torrential rivers or great expanse of ocean let you know that God is huge and you are very small in the scheme of things.
Travel and getting away should integrate you into all of your life. It can be apart from who you are and what you do but it’s better if it is a piece of the whole. Society is full of men living shattered and separated from reality. Those few that live with purpose and fullness will draw from times of travel and trip. Like the sheep in Psalm 23 they will find their souls restored and their paths straight.
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