I’ve witnessed quite a few painful breakups over the past couple of months, where people I care about deeply continue to have a very hard time.
My situation is a bit different – it’s not exactly a broken heart, per se.
It is more of a lingering connection that I couldn’t seem to shake without giving myself the medicine that has always worked in the past.
I realize it might be taboo to say that it is a good idea to take off traveling in order to deal with a broken heart. Many would say this is running away, or at least acts as a way to not deal with your feelings head on.
Trust me, I’ve spent months working on how to fully let it go, with all the tools in my mind-body-spirit tool chest. There’s been sitting with my feelings, whenever and wherever they’ve come up; affirmations of better things (and people) to come; rituals to help me let go.
But being in the same small town and wondering when I’d run into him again maintained an energetic tie that I just couldn’t seem to break.
And so, as the people that lived above me were driving me crazy, I was feeling a general lack of inspiration for the things that usually inspired me, and my two-year-travel itch kicked in, I decided to take off.
Knowing that my travels would make me quickly forget about him was just icing on the cake.
The Healing Power of Travel
I can relate that as an undergrad, four months of the food, wine, and spirited Italians of Florence finally got me over the boy to whom I had been attached for way too many years.
The intense year-long crush (that never would have worked out) was mostly gone after two weeks bouncing around Islington, London. It was never to be remembered once I was white-water rafting on the Zambezi River in Zimbabwe.
Traveling allows you to see places and meet people that are so different from the situation you may have been stuck in.
It may, in fact, make you realize you’re a very different person than you thought you were. A better, stronger person.
And I’ll admit it, I’m a wallower. I have to get out into the world to get out of (and over) myself.
I’m certainly not saying you should travel just to get over a person, but I’m not too worried that many of you would. You must have the adventure bug and a love for travel for this option to even work. If you aren’t up for meeting new people and having new experiences, then you’ll just end up wallowing somewhere across the world.
But if the spirit of travel implores you to search for a new perspective, I say go for it and don’t let anyone tell you to stay home.
Have you gotten over a break-up by taking off on an adventure? Share your thoughts below.
Need some help deciding where to go after a break-up? Emily Dilling shares her five favorite trips to deal with a broken heart. If you find yourself ready to move on once on the road, be sure to check out The Laws of Love on the Road.