The highlight of this past week was my participation in a very competitive game of Pictionary. Although my slapdash attempts at drawing stick figures were not especially noteworthy, realizing that the main excitement in my life involves board games came as a shock. What happened to my old adventuresome, thrill-seeking self?
I feared the worst. Pictionary would lead to crossword puzzles, and crossword puzzles would lead to a cat collecting habit and an inevitable life of solitude. I had to take action.
I reflected on the changes my life had undergone in the last year. How had I become an exclusively sweat-pants wearing, board game playing, arguably boring version of my former self?
One year ago, I was studying abroad through the Gonzaga-in-Florence program. Life was filled with an unnatural amount of excitement and opportunity. One weekend would find me trekking through the streets of Istanbul, while a few short days later I would be trying to drive on the left (wrong) side of the road through the Irish countryside. There were new people and experiences around every corner. I was always on my toes, primed for excitement and adventure.
Of course it wasn't all fun and games. I had my share of challenges, transportation nightmares and communication mismatches. But throughout the whole experience, I always felt alive and aware, like I was constantly exploring the world.
In the blink of an eye, the adventure was over. There was one final stop on my trip around the world: Spokane. Good old Spokane. Perhaps you prefer to call it Spokanistan, Methlehem, or Spocompton, but any way you slice it, our collegiate home is not exactly on par with say, Paris.
As soon as I returned to Spokane, I seemed to lose my traveler's mindset. I easily slipped back into the same old routine: spending copious amounts of money at Starbucks, defaulting to Jack and Dan's every weekend, and watching bad reality television.
It was a slippery slope. I packed my camera away, the camera that had made everything along my traveler's journey into a photo opportunity. I stuck to the people I knew, the people who had shared my experiences with me. I didn't have the energy to try new foods, activities or locations. My lack of excitement with life quickly spiraled out of control. That's when the board games began.
OK, board games are fun. Pictionary isn't the problem. The problem was that I had left my traveler's mentality somewhere in Europe. I was settling into a boring routine. I wasn't stretching myself, asking enough questions, or taking initiative to explore the world around me.
Even in my lethargic and apathetic state, I could see that I needed a change. I decided that I should try to make an ordinary day into an opportunity to travel. I would find things to take pictures of. I would go to new hangouts and local events, chatting up strangers and exploring Spokane as if it were the tourist capital of the world.
My little experiment worked wonders. It's easy to equate travel with the far-away and exotic. But what is travel, anyway? I think that travel is exploring your surroundings with an inquisitive mind and taking every opportunity to get to know the place around you better. Routine is the enemy of travel.
I broke out of my usual routine by asking questions about my habits and patterns. If the answer to my questions was "because I did it yesterday," I made changes. I talked to new people, sat in different seats in my classrooms, and even tried my hand at a little art project. OK, the art project didn't turn out so well, but the point is that it's easy to slip into a mundane routine when you're on the home front. The good news is that it's liberating to break out of the daily grind and really explore and take risks, however small they may seem.
At Gonzaga, it's especially easy to live in a tiny sphere of existence. We don't actually ever have to leave campus. We can eat, socialize and sleep in the same place. It's great to have a comfortable launching pad, but don't let the comforts of the everyday keep you from taking on an outlook geared toward adventure.
When we're busy with school and wading knee-deep in deadlines, it can be a daunting task to spice up our lives with the unexpected. But even the smallest changes in our routines and attitudes can make a big difference. Sometimes we make the same choice so many times that it becomes subconscious. We forget that we're actively making choices every day; choices about what to eat for breakfast, what route to take to class, where to study, what to wear, whom to call, what to do at the gym. Our routine becomes embedded in us, and it's hard to escape the limitations of our own mundane choices.
After traveling abroad for almost a year, I had to come to terms with the fact that country-hopping every few days would not be the norm for my life. I was kind of disappointed. I knew I would miss the adventures, challenges and new experiences that go along with traveling. Now I've realized that I don't have to confine my adventures to foreign countries. I can have as much adventure as I want; I just need to create it. By being inquisitive and ready and willing to take on new experiences, I can travel no matter where I am.
For people returning from studying abroad, returning to everyday life in Spokane can be a bit of a letdown. Keep up your traveling spirit by journeying around your home, your school and your city with an open mind and a willingness to take risks and try new things. For those who may have never set foot outside of the United States, it doesn't mean that you can't be just as good a traveler as someone who has journeyed around the world.
Be a tourist in your own life. Stop to notice the things that you normally pass by without giving a thought to. Talk to someone new. Mix up your routine. Let travel become an attitude, not a place.
Kelly O' Keefe is a senior at Gonzaga.
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