August 12, 2010 -- This week, after claiming a conversion to Hinduism when filming her last movie, Julia Roberts has been in the news and all over the Internet about this later-in-life move toward a new religion. Roberts now chants with her family at home, they regularly visit temples, and she believes in reincarnation.
In short, Julia Roberts practices what she learned on the road.
Yes, the actress changed. Her trip traveling through three countries (India, Italy, and Indonesia) gave the "Eat, Pray, Love' star the chance to reflect, to learn and to decide a new path as she moves forward in life.
This is what traveling is all about to me, too.
This Angeleno also had the chance to make a big life statement with my traveling experiences. Like the Roberts character Elizabeth Gilbert, author of the memoir that was made into the film 'Eat, Pray, Love,' I took off after my divorce.
Granted, it was part of my job as a travel writer, but one assignment landed me in Hong Kong where I not only found many tangible treasures in this pre-handover British territory, but I also found love. So, my five-day trip turned into a three-year adventure.
The rest is best left to a longer piece (maybe even my memoirs?), but suffice to say that this whole situation changed my life -- for the good, for the different, for the wiser.
I returned to LA as an ex expat road warrior who had lived much more on the road in those three years than I had in my previous lifetime. At times this was difficult, being out of my so-called comfort zone and away from my friends and family, but I came back more complete, ready to take on the world again.
And so, as Julia Roberts was changed by her travel for 'Eat, Pray, Love', the star inspires globetrotting, and I can identify. There's nothing like taking a trip to put life in perspective -- and you never know what that perspective is going to be until you go out there and find out.
In short, travel is an adventure not to be missed.
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