If I were to send a message to the world, it would be this, "Never Stop Exploring!"
The most profound life philosophy happened to be captured in one of the best taglines in the world. It comes from the brand that is closest to my heart – The North Face. I never felt more connected to any brand in my life the way I'm connected to this one. And it's not about the product. It's not about me making any statement. It's about the brand that celebrates everything that I am. It's about sharing the same view of the world and living by the same belief.
Here is the thing, I've never heard a better definition of me than in those three simple words. That is why, for me, it goes beyond only a tagline but into a life philosophy. Like any great life philosophy, it runs deep. It is so universal that you can apply it to almost anything you do.
It's not always easy to explain why we feel strongly about certain things, and why those things go straight to our hearts. After reflecting on why "Never Stop Exploring" goes straight to mine, I've come up with this view.
It's a story of sacrifice, the unknown, and transformation.
No one likes sacrifices, but if you want to live by the credo, you have to. You have to have the willingness to sacrifice everything that you think you are, at any given moment. Willingness to sacrifice every little mental construct that exists in your head. Willingness to sacrifice all your limits. All that for what you could become. Then you would need to go outside of the boundaries of yourself and step into the unknown. This means that you need to step out of everything you think you know. And it goes beyond. Stepping out from the environment you are familiar with. Stepping out from the culture you are part of. In doing so, you need to allow the transformation to happen. A life-changing transformation and learning that will make you a better version of yourself.
It is a beautiful loop. The more you do it, the more profound changes will happen, and the better you'll become. You might have done it once or twice, but it needs to become a perpetuum mobile. Only then, you'll be in constant forward motion.
I love constant forward motion as much as I love adventure travel. Adventure travel was an initial premise on which The North Face was founded. Hence, my connection with the brand. It is my trusted companion on all my trips. So far, I've been to more than 50 countries and plan to visit 50 more. From dancing Cuban salsa in the streets of Havana to meditating in the Himalayas. From climbing a volcano in dangerous Congo to wandering through the jungles of Laos. Every single trip had a profound impact. Every single trip was a sacrifice of my limits, step to the unknown, and profound transformation.
This is my insight into traveling:
"The more you travel, the more you feel at home wherever you go. The more borders you cross, the more they start to disappear. The more religions you encounter, the more you understand the unity among them. It begins with a simple thing, breaking the borders in our head. Borders are nothing but blockages we need to remove. Then "unity" is not just a word but a quality of your heart.
Take your backpack and go, don't stop, meet as many people, see as many places, learn as many religions, and see this beautiful planet Earth as a whole. If you are not able to travel physically, don't worry, you can also travel in your mind and your heart, no one can stop you. The beauty of life is that you can do this every single day.
This is what "Never Stop Exploring" means to me.
I don't want to claim that the North Face is the best brand in the world. It just happened that we share the same belief we both live by, which makes a connection much stronger. Beyond belief, there is so much that I love about what the brand does. But I didn't want to write about it. Please search about FutureLight. It is The North Face's latest innovation. The living proof of how they are standing by their belief.
One thing is for sure, I will never stop exploring as long as I live. What about you?
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