We live a destination-driven lifestyle based on the speed of transit, which serves us well but robs us of the experience of the journey.

I’ve lived without a car for over three years now, and in that time my perspective has shifted dramatically from valuing arrivals to valuing journeys.

That’s when the world really opens up.

You take your time to better appreciate what’s around you and allow the mental space to stop and even contemplate it.

For example, I’ve worked laying paving bricks for a few seasons. This building is made of bricks.

That means I’ve had the experience of knowing that each brick was put there by the thousands by human hands working on minimal scaffolding pads.

That’s mind-boggling to me. I know those men were braver than I could be. I don’t like heights.

This building wasn’t my destination that day. But it was part of the journey to where I wanted to go.

And because of that, and because I saw value in what could have been seen as a waste of time to be best served where we were going, I was able to have that epiphany.

That epiphany allowed me to appreciate the work that went into something man-made that may have otherwise just melted into the landscape of the dismissed and unappreciated – as most of our world often does.

Remember to look around. Sometimes there is more to appreciate in our journeys than we realize while on the path to the next better thing.