Traveler’s observations: The origins of habits. How environement forces us to believe that it is our fault.

All and every single one of us has habits, of which some are respectable and some are not so nice. But why do we need those bad habits? Why cannot we live without them?

I know that a lot of people would just say that they are used to some things and cannot imagine, for example, living without a sweet piece of cake in the middle of the night or a cigarette with morning coffee. They would say that is is impossible to get rid of those habits. “None of us are flawless and that is my guilty pleasure,” they will say. I have to disagree, though.

It took me a year to realize how much my life is changing while I am traveling. It took me a year to see that my habits are different in every single place. It actually seems that I have no say in choosing what the next habit will be. Environment chooses for me.

This is a very hard thing to spot when you don’t change your environment for years. You get used to the same road to work and take it every single day for the rest of the days until environment changes and the road is not accessible anymore. That is when you go on and try that road on your left, which was always there. So often it appears to be shorter and much more convenient. However, those strange habits made sure that you would not find it for as long as possible.

For example, I used to sleep in late before coming to Costa Rica only to find that my body can wake up at 7 am without any problems as well. I mean - you have no choice when the sun is up by 5 and monkeys start to howl. So was it me who wanted to sleep late or I was just in the environment suited for night owls?

I also had a bad habit of drinking a lot of cold soda while living by the beach. Don’t judge me, it was very hot. However, as long as I have left the beach, I haven’t had a can for months.

Back home I could not imagine a day without my car, but now I cannot imagine what it feels like to be sitting in one again. However, I am spending my days in a boat now, sailing through the Carapachay river. At first, it was strange, but now it is the most common thing on earth.

And all those different kinds of habits come and go. I lived in 6 countries in the last year and I will tell you that there is not a single habit which survived in all of the places. I would eat unreasonable amounts of chocolate in one place, sleep too long in another, and do no sports at the third, but nothing survived throughout the journey.

That only makes me come to the conclusion that our habits are influenced by the environment.

You might not be a gambler, but simply living in Las Vegas.

You might no be a smoker, but simply working in a tobacco shop.

I honestly tell you - there is no habit in the world which would be impossible to get rid of. Just don’t fight the fire with fire. Simply put a little twist on your lifestyle, change your environment a bit, and watch how those bad habits will die on their own… or will be changed by another, even worse ones. Yup - life is a constant struggle.

We are sometimes foolish and choose to cross a river full of crocodiles by swimming through it rather than using a bridge few feet away.

We are sometimes foolish enough to close our eyes and just pretend that things cannot get any better rather than simply be searching for the roots of the problem and ripping them out.

By any means, I don’t say that we are flawless and it is the environment that ruins us. I am only saying that one of the worst habits of human beings is finding an excuse for having a bad habit, instead of looking for a solution. My solution is simple - change your environment and be amazed. All you have to do now is tell me your excuse, why you cannot do it. Cheers!

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