Josh here! My wife and I have been travelling and working for the majority of 2022. Following the first three months of the year where we lived in Colorado we moved to Iowa (for 3 months), then to Anchorage, AK (for 3 months), and lastly, we moved to Costa Rica (for 3 months). In Iowa and Alaska, we were both working full time with both places being locations we have never been to longer than a week. In Costa Rica we were volunteering part time and I was working remotely the other half.
The focus of this post is to highlight differences and why it is important to learn and desire to challenge yourself to experience and seek these differences to grow and stretch us. For example, CO, AK, and IA are all states in the United States, but each one is different and special in their own way. They all have different speeds of life, daily activities, ideas of fun, and a different life focus… and that’s not to mention Costa Rica which is a whole different country speaking an entirely different language.
Living in different places there are obvious things that stick out to the eye: safety, living style, city structure, buildings, surrounding nature as well as general location demographics to name a few. It goes without saying each person has a base to which they judge new places. Typically, what you grew up with is what you are used to, what feels comfortable to you, what is familiar and easy to navigate. New places often come with new stress as locations are different, living situations can be nicer or worse than what you are used to, and sometimes the landscape is scary and shocking. In future blog posts I will go into the differences of each place my wife and I have lived over the year of 2022 all with the goal of sharing and encouraging people to learn about other people, cultures and challenge your standard of comfort all with an open heart and mind.
To start I wanted to share why I believe it is important to learn with an open mind and heart. As human beings, we were all created with an innate need for community. Regardless or your preference to be an introvert or an extrovert, we all need a certain level of human connection and interaction. Because familiarity is often where people feel the most comfortable, we tend to befriend and connect with those of a similar mindset, interests, and beliefs. While there isn’t anything wrong with having your community made up with people that you feel familiar with, the desire to learn and engage with others increases our ability to comprehend, shape our values, and can bring use new ideas and inspiration. The best example I have is around food (I really enjoy eating). Having been to a new place, have you ever eaten something completely new? Living in Costa Rica I ate food that I never would have thought I would eat in the USA; from tuna pasta, to fried red snapper, to patacones. Each one a unique and vastly different dish than something I am familiar with. While I may not have absolutely loved every new thing I tried, each one opened my eyes to the food that the culture has and the value they hold allowing me to greater appreciate their use of the ingredients they have at their disposal.
A silly example I know… but a simple one that can immediately change the way you view the people around you. I hope in some way as we do this blog journey together and learn about these places form all over the world, we can all learn to appreciate differences that in turn will allow us to experience the joys or different places and people!
Stay tuned for more updates to come and read more in depth about each stop in the Duren family 2022 adventures.