GREENSBORO, N.C. — It's time for 'My 2 Cents'
At least twice a week I join you from my living room and do this segment but if we're being honest I am in my living room quite often because... what else do I have to do?
One thing I've really missed out on this year is traveling. It's a form of self care for me. I need breaks from normal life and I certainly need breaks from 2020.
Here's the thing - it's really hard to get one.
I've talked before about how important it is to have something to look forward to - and anticipating time away is how I keep myself going. It's normal to feel sad about canceled trips but the disappointment of that goes beyond just feeling sad. It can really mess with your emotions.
In an article, the LA Times spoke to a professor of psychology. He says a lot of us use travel as a way to calm anxious feelings or racing thoughts. For example, if you have a trip coming up to a tropical destination, that you've never been to before, you may try to predict what the beach will look like, plan what you'll do or even picture yourself there and that's soothing.
What's even more interesting to me is that the positive feels we associate with an upcoming trip are really hard to re-create. In the same article, another expert says our emotional systems steer us to engage with good things and avoid bad things. So, thinking about future events can actually create a stronger response than thinking about a happy past event. It's why you may feel happier planning a trip than you do when you're actually there.
Do I tell you all of this to get you down and out? Of course not!
Here's the silver lining: there are ways to re-create the positive feelings associated with travel. Day trips, low-key and safe getaways and smaller excursions give some of the same benefits than a lavish trip abroad.
The second piece of good news is that we're lucky to live in a beautiful state that's about to be alive with fall color. We can get out and explore.
Comparison is the thief of joy - don't rob yourself of happiness by lamenting trips gone by or ones cancelled, create something you can look forward to, even if it's planning a trip across the street.