Traveling from the perspective of a wonderer | Columnists | fremonttribune.com – Fremont Tribune

Editors note: Dean Jacobs is a Fremont man, world traveler, photographer and author, who is writing a series of columns about his trip to Ecuador. There is a good reason I was not born a tree, even though my roots run deep in Nebraska. Staying in one place for an extended period is not what I was designed for, so the last couple of years of COVID have been a unique challenge. Traveling is one of the activities where I am at my best. It offers the opportunities to discover something new about the world and, at the same time, learn something new about myself. Venturing into something new livens us. It sparks the mental wires tired and dusty from repetition and engages us with life once again with a sense of wonder. It widens perspectives and helps us see new possibilities and expressions of life beyond the familiar. Traveling is often a topic of high importance and priority with my life coaching clients because the payoff is enormous. Its a dream many people have, but need some support to pursue. The last couple of years has covered us with a blanket of fear, which has taken a mental toll on our capacity and willingness to act and engage. Traveling can be a medicine for this condition and provide space to breathe deep, physically and mentally. With 58 countries under my belt, totaling eight years of independent travel abroad, I know what leaving the familiar behind offers. Traveling offers a chance to reboot, refresh and restart life in a healthy, intentional way. To allow undiscovered qualities to be revealed and experienced. To reboot the passion that comes with seeing something beautiful. To refresh in the pristine waterfalls deep in the Amazon Rainforest and have it wash away all the negative vibes navigated over the last few years. To restart and see with new eyes, from a new perspective and possibilities. So, instead of arguing for the walls that are supposed to keep me safe but playing small, I chose to travel again and lead a group of students from the University of Nebraska on a life-changing journey. Going abroad alone is one thing, but leading a group of 17 university students is a much higher responsibility. Since 2015, I have led journeys abroad, a natural growth from the school presentations for the last 20 years. Two years of COVID put much of this on pause. But if we are to break off the chains of fear that have hampered our connection to the world, we must take bold actions beyond what is comfortable. We must make a choice that living a life filled with wonder is worth the risks it requires. Ecuador is calling. Home to some of the sacred headwaters of the Amazon River, and the endless green horizon of the Amazon Rainforest, its call is irresistible to ignore. Packed into an area about the size of the state of Colorado are Andean Mountains, active volcanoes, rainforests, waterfalls, beaches, and indigenous communities still practicing the wisdom passed down through the ages. Travel creates fertile ground; it supports the space in the mind that allows us to grow. Therefore, I overlay the trip with life coaching conversations with the students; as we push back the noise and distractions, they can hear with their minds and hearts. They turn off their cell phones and turn on their dreamers. If we are going to move forward with intention and hope, we need to keep turning on our dreamers, especially the young members of our communities, for within them the future lives. Few things do this as powerfully then travel. So, with 17 Sigma Phi Epsilon Fraternity members at the University of Nebraska, we set off for two weeks to South America. To explore how the world has changed and how we have changed. I want to know how the indigenous communities deep in the Amazon Rainforest survived COVID using their traditional medicines. I want to laugh again with the Indigenous communities living in the Andean Mountains. I want to see again the place they call the land of everlasting spring. To stoke the internal fires of life again, to turn back on our dreamers. Ecuador is calling.

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Editors note: Dean Jacobs is a Fremont man, world traveler, photographer and author, who is writing a series of columns about his trip to Ecuador.

There is a good reason I was not born a tree, even though my roots run deep in Nebraska.

Staying in one place for an extended period is not what I was designed for, so the last couple of years of COVID have been a unique challenge.

Traveling is one of the activities where I am at my best. It offers the opportunities to discover something new about the world and, at the same time, learn something new about myself.

Venturing into something new livens us. It sparks the mental wires tired and dusty from repetition and engages us with life once again with a sense of wonder.

It widens perspectives and helps us see new possibilities and expressions of life beyond the familiar.

Traveling is often a topic of high importance and priority with my life coaching clients because the payoff is enormous. Its a dream many people have, but need some support to pursue.

The last couple of years has covered us with a blanket of fear, which has taken a mental toll on our capacity and willingness to act and engage. Traveling can be a medicine for this condition and provide space to breathe deep, physically and mentally.

With 58 countries under my belt, totaling eight years of independent travel abroad, I know what leaving the familiar behind offers.

Traveling offers a chance to reboot, refresh and restart life in a healthy, intentional way. To allow undiscovered qualities to be revealed and experienced. To reboot the passion that comes with seeing something beautiful. To refresh in the pristine waterfalls deep in the Amazon Rainforest and have it wash away all the negative vibes navigated over the last few years.

To restart and see with new eyes, from a new perspective and possibilities.

So, instead of arguing for the walls that are supposed to keep me safe but playing small, I chose to travel again and lead a group of students from the University of Nebraska on a life-changing journey.

Going abroad alone is one thing, but leading a group of 17 university students is a much higher responsibility.

Since 2015, I have led journeys abroad, a natural growth from the school presentations for the last 20 years. Two years of COVID put much of this on pause. But if we are to break off the chains of fear that have hampered our connection to the world, we must take bold actions beyond what is comfortable. We must make a choice that living a life filled with wonder is worth the risks it requires.

Home to some of the sacred headwaters of the Amazon River, and the endless green horizon of the Amazon Rainforest, its call is irresistible to ignore.

Packed into an area about the size of the state of Colorado are Andean Mountains, active volcanoes, rainforests, waterfalls, beaches, and indigenous communities still practicing the wisdom passed down through the ages.

Travel creates fertile ground; it supports the space in the mind that allows us to grow. Therefore, I overlay the trip with life coaching conversations with the students; as we push back the noise and distractions, they can hear with their minds and hearts.

They turn off their cell phones and turn on their dreamers.

If we are going to move forward with intention and hope, we need to keep turning on our dreamers, especially the young members of our communities, for within them the future lives.

Few things do this as powerfully then travel.

So, with 17 Sigma Phi Epsilon Fraternity members at the University of Nebraska, we set off for two weeks to South America. To explore how the world has changed and how we have changed. I want to know how the indigenous communities deep in the Amazon Rainforest survived COVID using their traditional medicines. I want to laugh again with the Indigenous communities living in the Andean Mountains. I want to see again the place they call the land of everlasting spring.

To stoke the internal fires of life again, to turn back on our dreamers.

Dean Jacobs is a world traveler and a Fremont Tribune correspondent.

Dean Jacobs is a world traveler and a Fremont Tribune correspondent.

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Traveling from the perspective of a wonderer | Columnists | fremonttribune.com - Fremont Tribune