Keep in touch

One of the most fun incentives of having travelled is that you can share your experiences with those who are just about to go on their own journeys. Enabling others not to fall into the same pitfalls as you did, or empowering them by sharing hints on how to replenish energy, are thoroughly satisfying ways of sharing what you learned. You can only do this if you retain at least some connection to those who are about to start their journeys.

​​Consequently, try to keep at least in rudimentary touch with your university, the institute you wrote your thesis at, your professors, maybe. There are plenty of opportunities to enable others by mentoring, joining studies, or perhaps even teaching. However, keeping in touch is not only about giving back; it can also just be about keeping in touch with those with whom you shared several years of your life. These shared experiences seem valuable to many people. Disconnecting and discontinuing relationships is always possible, but it also entails building up other relationships from zero, somewhere else.

​​Research, to a degree, also means long-term relationships. Contacts you have built, people you have grown accustomed to, stories you share. You should always feel free to disconnect from relationships that do not seem good for you, but there’s a noteworthy argument to be had for maintaining relationships that link you back to some of your best years.

(This is a preview section. The full chapter on this topic continues with the sections “Rough coordinates”, “Train of thought”, “In essence”, “To reflect”, “Two travellers’ tales”, “Devil’s advocate”, and “How to tackle”.)