Or maybe it’s just a single thought unravelled?

Nothing revolutionary or anything that will lead to a great paradigm shift, just a few subjective observations I’ve made in regards to travelling, something that I haven’t done much and never really alone but lately a few amazing opportunities to do just that arose from both my own desire and the non-negotiable insistence of a dear fren.
Travelling frees the spirit and the mind and that has been evident in myself the couple of times I’ve visited England in the past months. It’s no secret that I have an autism disorder though it’s likely that few people would be able to tell right off the bat since I’ve learned a lot about [human behaviour] and so it’s mostly been an internal struggle that often has lead me to seeking the comfortable and the familiar to a greater extent than most people or at least I think I’ve been more conscious about me doing it because everyone seeks the familiar in one way or the other, that’s simply human nature. Without that instinct in us we would’ve been wiped out as a species a long, long time ago because the familiar overwhelmingly equates to safety and we do like safety.

But every now and then it’s good to get out, get somewhere new and reset the mind and that’s what’s been happening to me while in England. You see, as most people with autism socializing can be challenging in many ways and the biggest difference there is, generally speaking, between the way ‘Tism bois and normal people hang out is the basic core of it. Normal hang out. Autistic people hang out over something. Anything. Watching a movie, building a Lego set (not that have cool Lego building frens), playing music, cooking, sorting tiny screws, whatever. There is a focal point for the social gathering, a parameter against which we can in some way quantify how well we are being human in that moment. It’s often quite an important factor as it removes some doubts and allows me to better relax and just be in the moment.

Travelling makes the need for this focal less important, it seems. Of course, the company makes a huge difference in it, too, but while I was in England I noticed that it was a lot easier to just “hang out” without there being a need for a goal of any kind other than just hanging out. The company made a huge difference, too, no doubt. Dave is an easy guy to just hang out with and most of the time we’d do literally nothing but watch random stuff on youtube and grunt at random to signal that we were still conscious to some extent. And it was great!
It was freeing as it’s something I’ve never done well at home but travelling freed it up in a different way. Now that I’m home again it’s back to same ol’, same ol’, as it goes but I know that’ll change the next time I venture out.
And I can’t wait!