Is Travel a Better Education or Uni?

On this episode of 'the Nostalgic Vagabond' podcast, I talk with Simon Palmer. 

Simon has been practising architecture for well over ten years in his home country of Australia and abroad too. The interesting thing about Simon, in discovering who he is and what path he would choose as a 20-year-old, is that his decisions stemmed from experiences abroad and the solo travels he made between studying at high school and undertaking tertiary qualifications. The so-called GAP year you could say:- 

Get A Purpose!

Or in Simon's words that cliche of, "Finding himself." 

In conversation, we reminisce on times at the University of Canberra (6:30) while we were both students there in 2005/2006-ish. Simon mentions how he felt grateful and even privileged to be allowed the opportunity to study at the university (12:20) to realise his career ambition to design buildings for his vocation. 

Simon explains in detail the events which happened in Berlin (16:45) where he was challenged about the person he was and the person he could be. This all happened in the beautifully designed Holocaust Museum and then his chance encounter with a soothsayer of sorts on the streets outside. 

We talk about savouring moments (29:00) and how at a young age Simon discovered this practice and has carried it with him throughout his life. This is interesting because it was this act that caught my attention in the first place. I have a very visual memory of Simon enjoying an obscure beer while chilling at a uni party where the rest of the students were drinking cheap box wine as quickly as possible. No savouring at all, and not even tasting most probably. Cause it tastes bloody awful. 

Simon shares some suggestions of places to go and savour life's moments (32:00) from his experiences. Places like the Greek islands, Croatia, Costa Rica and New Zealand surprisingly for one of the best night skies in the world.  Recently, Simon has found even if it's just a casual walk, run or bike in your 15min neighbourhood, this simple act can re-invigorate the mind, especially in covid times. 

We discuss (39:15) whether international experience, travel and working/living abroad impacts on your job and future prospects. (41:30) 

And to conclude, Simons tells of his thoughts on possible destinations to explore in the future in the upcoming post-covid global experience...

Enjoy.

 

Further links:-

Jewish Museum in Berlin: https://www.jmberlin.de/en/libeskind-building

Stoicism: https://aeon.co/essays/why-stoicism-is-one-of-the-best-mind-hacks-ever-devised

 

 

A big thanks to Tom Forfar for creating the title tracks for the podcast series.

And, any comments or feedback feel free to email

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