Travelogue – El Salvador May 2008 – Prologue

Happiness is a learned condition.

When I travel by myself, friends and family often wonder if I´ve gone mad. They´re getting used to the idea, but many do not understand it.

It all depends on what you are looking to get out of your travel.

When traveling with friends/family/significant others, the focus of the good times is sharing experiences with those travel partners – a worthy cause. This reminds me of something an ex-girlfriend once said (who had a caustic sense of humor). We were looking at a friends´ travel photos – and the photos were awful. Every single one of the photos featured either one or both of them – and they took up the majority of each photo. It was so bad that we could hardly see the landscape/architecture/things that they were trying to photograph. After a while, the ex-girlfriend could no longer contain herself. As she received the next picture, she blurted out, “Oh look! Another picture of you with different lighting!”.

In some ways – that defines my thoughts on travel with friends/girlfriends/family. The relationship can easily become the center of attention – turning the travel experience into a series of places with different lighting. Of course, relationship-centered travel can be great. And sometimes people can travel with others and have minimal influence on each other. However, I know what I am getting into when I travel solo (and most do not have the flexibility and/or inclination to go on the type of trips that I like).

While traveling solo, I am taking a minimum of outside influences into my new location. All I really bring with me (besides a surfboard and a change of surf trunks) is my attitude. My attitude acts as a mirror – what I bring to a new location is reflected back to me by whoever I interact with (and likewise, I can reflect the attitude of those I talk with).

Happiness is a learned condition – like any attitude/outlook. Once you learn an attitude such as happiness (or any other attitude, including bad ones), it has momentum and can take effort to change.

Are Americans happy? Generaly not, from what I have seen at home and abroad. Americans have more of everything per capita than anywhere else the world – except happiness and health.

Traveling by myself is an opportunity to leave all of that behind for a moment – and attempt to learn how others live. Once I slough off my bad attitude from home and work – I get to “start over” with the attitude, and seek out interaction with happy people. Traveling is an opportunity to learn other cultural ways to live happily.

One of my first interactions here in El Salvador ended with a look that said “asshole tourist”. I was (and still am) sick with a cold from earlier in the week, I had been awake all night, and I had to wait four hours until I could check into my room (and I was wearing jeans from the day before). I had asked for a cup of coffee – but somehow it came across in the wrong way. After six months of dealing with an unpleasant work situation (with over a month of outright hostility) – my outward expression had turned negative. I had learned unhappiness, and the momentum had carried over to my vacation.

The sooner I unlearn my “under fire” attitude and re-learn happiness, the better off I will be. Luckily, I have planned a strict regimen of surfing, hammock time, and practicing my Spanish.

Luckily, I have usually been a good student.

Begin the Journey)