The Journey, The Destination, and What Comes Next

Warning: philosophical musings ahead.“A good traveler has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving.” – Lao Tzu

I’ve had a kind of a love-hate relationship with quotes like this one. On one hand, I see why enjoying the journey is important, and I’ve also been in situations where an excess of planning and a tunnel-vision focus on the goal actually backfired.

But on the other hand, there’s also tremendous value in planning ahead, and in having a destination ahead of you. A traveler with no destination is merely a restless nomad, is he not? Destinations are our signposts, our landmarks that tell us where we’re going.