Self-Nudge
As someone who finds a great deal of fulfillment in travel, I don't enjoy being limited in that regard—in terms of legal limitations but also in terms of self-enforced, prudence-based constraints.
I've been keeping a close eye on things, and though I do think there are relatively safe ways to bumble about right now, in some contexts and for some people, I don't particularly like the type of highly constrained travel that's currently on the menu.
The number and magnitude of uncertainties at play are also incentivizing me to remain relatively homebound until we collectively achieve an overall safer, less-restricted state of itinerant play.
That said, travel for me is primarily about exploration and exposure to new perspectives. And I've learned over the years that I can glean many of the same benefits I typically derive from travel from intentional immersion in other sorts of activities and endeavors.
Learning new skills, engaging with stories and information and experiences that I've never taken the time to properly consider and/or understand, and exposing myself to new ideas and perspectives are all undertakings that can be attempted from anywhere, including familiar places and spaces.
Travel has a way of decoupling us from our habits and routines and anchors, and it can consequently nudge us into more exploratory tendencies and states of mind. But we can learn to nudge ourselves in that direction, too, with the proper motivation and a little practice.
Thus, while I hate what's happening and cannot wait for this horrible situation to pass and some new state of normalcy to return to the world—ideally one in which casual travel is safe and available and advisable once more (and perhaps even more equitably than before)—I'm also okay in the sense that I have plenty to do and learn and experience and explore from wherever I happen to find myself in the meantime.
Being able to self-nudge into that exploratory state of mind while in a familiar, often less frictionful environment takes practice and it's not a replacement for perambulatory exploration: ideally the growth you achieve from home is balanced with the sort of growth you experience while rambling around less-familiar physical contexts.
But honing the ability to intentionally flip between different inquisitive, motivated mindsets is an investment that tends to pay off, whatever the state of the world and wherever you might find yourself.
If you found some value in this essay, consider supporting my work by buying me a coffee.
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Projects
Brain Lenses: Digital Perception & Friendship
Let’s Know Things: Peruvian 2021 Election
Curiosity Weekly: July 27, 2021
One Sentence News: Info / Subscribe
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Interesting & Useful
Some things to click:
Countries That Appeared Most Frequently In NYT Headlines Each Month Since 1900 (nice bit of data-analysis here)
Global Internet Infrastructure Map (always wild to see how involved, but maybe also frail, all this is)
Star Trek + Design (figuring out where the objects used in the show Star Trek come from)
US Droughts Over the Last 20 Years (animated map that intuitively demonstrates one of the climate problems we're facing right now)
Land Projected To Be Below Annual Flood Level in 2050 (interactive map that is fairly grim, but informative and potentially useful)
Naumachia (I love that this was a thing)
Than Average (neat interactive experience that allows you to compare yourself to the "average" person)
PS: subscribe to Curiosity Weekly (link in the previous section) to receive an email containing just curated links every Tuesday
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Outro
I haven't been able to fully switch over to the new email infrastructure yet (hopefully by next week?), but today's newsletter has been moved over on a trial basis: let me know if there's any weirdness in it that I should take into account and/or correct, since it's my first time using this platform for this newsletter.
It's been just silly hot and humid here in Milwaukee most of this past week, which means I've been spending a good deal of my time trying to not melt. I've managed to go out for a run most mornings despite my near-meltiness, however, and I'm kind of proud of that.
I'm doing an Ask Me Anything on Instagram today through tomorrow morning, if you have anything you'd like me to answer, there.
As always, though, you can also respond to this missive or email me at colin@exilelifestyle.com with a private question or comment, to vent or share something you're struggling with, or to send me a picture of a cute animal you think I might enjoy (I probably will).
You can also communicate via the typical methods: Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, or SOFAR channel.
If you’re finding some value in what I’m doing here, consider supporting my work via one of these methods: Become a patron / Buy a book / Buy me a coffee