1. My Last Long-Haul Trip Was in 2020
It has been surprisingly long since my last proper long-haul trip. In January 2020, I spent two weeks in Brazil. A few weeks later, the pandemic began, and for a while, travel was no longer much of an option.
After that, I bought an apartment in Barcelona and spent a lot of time there over the following years. I still traveled frequently, visited other European countries, went on road trips, and flew regularly. But I did not take another real long-haul trip. Neither for work nor for pleasure.
And at some point, a thought had settled in my mind: Long-haul travel is quite a hassle.
2. When Unfamiliar Starts to Feel Complicated
There was no particular reason for this. And yet, over the years, a small list of supposed complications had formed in my head: Different time zones. Visas. Vaccinations. Entry requirements. Connecting flights. Power adapters. Transfers. Things I barely think about when traveling within Europe.
Last Saturday, I finally set off for Rwanda for five days to explore the country with a great group on a trip organized by OMR Travel. Since I had been quite busy in the days leading up to my departure, I had little time to prepare. Instead, individual questions kept popping into my head: Have I really thought of everything? Does getting the visa on arrival really work that easily? Will I have enough time to make my connection in Istanbul?
The closer the trip came, the longer my mental list of small potential hurdles seemed to become.
3. And Then: Nothing Happened
The flights were on time. I was able to use the time on the plane very productively for work. The connection in Istanbul went smoothly. I got my visa directly at the counter in Kigali. It took five minutes and was even cheaper than arranging it online in advance. The shuttle to the hotel was waiting. I did not need a power adapter. And Rwanda currently does not even have a time difference from Germany.
Of course, the journey took longer than a flight to Barcelona. But apart from that? Surprisingly little difference. All that overthinking had been for nothing.
And somewhere between the airport and the hotel, I found myself wondering: Why haven’t I done this more often over the past few years?
4. What We Stop Doing Starts to Feel More Complicated
Perhaps that is exactly what makes this mechanism so interesting: We tend to perceive the things we do regularly as easy. We know the routines, we know what to expect, and there is a lot we no longer even have to think about.
When we stop doing something for a longer period of time, the opposite can happen. A lack of routine creates uncertainty. Uncertainty creates potential problems. And a series of small potential problems eventually creates the feeling: This is complicated.
But the thing itself has not changed. Only our relationship to it has. And this probably applies to much more than long-haul travel.
5. How Many Opportunities Do We Miss This Way?
Similar limitations can develop gradually in our professional lives. You have not changed jobs for a long time, and at some point, making a move starts to feel incredibly risky. You have worked in the same industry for years and can barely imagine that your experience might be relevant somewhere else. You have not taken on a new challenge for a long time, and suddenly the next step seems much bigger than it actually is.
Perhaps we then tell ourselves: “That’s too much effort.” Or: “Now isn’t the right time.” Or: “That’s too uncertain.” Sometimes there are very good reasons for this. But sometimes we simply have not done something for so long that we have forgotten how straightforward it can actually be.
6. My Reflection
What feels complicated to you today, even though you once did it without giving it much thought?
Where has a lack of routine gradually turned something into a seemingly major undertaking?
And is there something you have been putting off for years because the path toward it now seems more difficult than it might actually be?
Sometimes it does not take a major leap. Sometimes all it takes is the experience of discovering that the limitation we created through all that overthinking does not actually exist.
