Day #4 of Vacation Week at The Napkin Dad Daily

 I took my daughters to Europe in 2003. We traveled through Germany, Italy, France and Spain for 2 weeks.  We stayed at youth hostels and Bed & Breakfasts.
 
When we were in Munich, Germany we had beds for 5 in our room and only 4 of us so a single woman from the US joined us.  We knew nothing about her, she knew nothing about us.  We went out to dinner with her and got to discover her as she was, right then.  She was a blank slate, with no yesterdays for us.
 
We didn’t know if she suffered from depression, with an Eeyore cloud over her head all the time, or if she had been stabbed in the back by her best friend the week before. All we knew was what she decided to present to us that day.
 
One of the great things about moving away from an old home town, or traveling to a new spot where you spend some time, is that you get to reinvent yourself. You can practice being who you want to be, not who you are expected to be.
 
But here is the great secret.  Every new encounter you are a blank slate. It doesn’t matter if you are in France or your local dry cleaners.  That person does not know you or your history.  You want to be different than you are in daily life? Then practice on that new person. Be kinder, be more complimentary, be quieter, be less judgmental, be funnier, be happier.  You don’t need to go on vacation to become someone new, you just need to see the opportunities right in front of you.
 
Before you know it, you will become what you practice, no matter where you are.
 
Drawing and commentary © Marty Coleman
 
“There are no yesterdays on the road.” – William Least Heat Moon, 1939-not dead yet, American writer of native Osage heritage. Writes particularly about travel, including his best seller, Blue Highways, published in 1982, about his journey on the backroads of America.