It is said that the seasoned traveller is he who, in the face of unanticipated difficulty, while perhaps not rising above it, can nonetheless take it in his stride.  The implication being that when travelling stuff happens; and that the most quick-witted among us learns how to step around it or through it without being miffed. Rather like the way we’d prefer to imagine living the most productive life if you will.

Buoyancy in the face of hindrance is not easy-breezy and its adoption ascribes to the seasoned traveller an enviable stamina.  This is certainly so when considering the broader context of daily living; though among travellers it is oddly considered mere skilful accommodation based I suppose on the supposition that when travelling you’re bound to run into snags whereas everyday life is somehow immune to such regularity. The only reasoning behind such absurdity has to be that if you’re lucky enough to travel to the Côte d’Azur or the South Pacific for example you have to expect some compensating disagreeableness.

Whether a traveller abroad or one just living at home, there are of course unpredictable complexities and perplexities. And while it is perhaps true that the contemplation of ultimate resort upon a sandy beach enables the desirable characteristic of accommodation, hurdles constitute a paradigm we must all confront from time to time whatever the circumstances.

There is however another lesson to derive from the study of the seasoned traveller; and it is this:

There are two kinds of traveler: those who go with an image in their heads to see if they can realize it, and those who go to see what they haven’t seen before.

Adjoining the predictable barriers of life are the unpredictable pathways of life; and as often as not the two are intertwined leading one to or from the other. As such it is pure logic that we are best advised to anticipate the two events, not seeing them as competing or fortuitous but rather as part of the mosaic of living. Certainly this borders on the Pollyanna but it is an inescapable conjunction like it or not. The readiness to adapt to change is never easy even for the most adventurous. It is however an imperative which will be either inflicted upon us or adopted by us. The conclusions are as unpredictable as the initiatives; you see what you get or you get what you see.