Chasing Paradise: The Moments that Take Your Breath Away
Last Updated: October 20, 2025
PARADISE MOMENTS LIVE WITH YOU FOREVER.
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"It's not someplace you can look for. It's not where you go. It's how you feel for a moment in your life."
- Richard (The Beach)
Why do we travel?
It's a good question. We have dreams of big adventures, stepping into the unknown and getting swept away in the journey. The exhileration of danger. Tastebuds set alight on something they've never touched before. The passion of falling in love on a perfect island.
We all have different reasons for stepping foot on the road, but the one thing we all have in common is that we want to feel something. Usually, it's some sense of happiness or fulfilment.
After all - who doesn't want to be happy?
So: where do you go to be happy? You go to Paradise!
...right?
So... what exactly is paradise?
What is 'Paradise'?
Paradise has been defined in a few ways.
Bear with us here, but let's have a look at the Oxford dictionary (Yeah, yeah...):
- (in some religions) a perfect place where people are said to go when they die
- a place that is extremely beautiful and that seems perfect, like heaven
Let's note the word 'place' has come up in both definitions, and have a quick look at its origins too:
It originates from old Persia (around 6th Century BC), where it originally meant 'walled enclosure'. It was then translated across languages and through religions, where it came to mean a place of perfection. Usually, this was something like the Garden of Eden, or one of the versions of heaven that a lot of religions promise you after you die, as a reward for being 'good'.
There's a couple of things that stand out to us with this.
First, paradise is something that was lost, and you cannot find again until you die. It's not available to you now. Which is a bit miserable, really.
Second, paradise is a place. Like... it physically exists.
So, what about you? If we say 'Paradise', what comes to mind? A perfect beach? Maybe an island like Bali or Hawaii? Heaven?
We are here to argue for something else.
Paradise can be found here on Earth. But it's not a place.
It's a moment in time.
We are pitching you:
Paradise Moments
Yep. Paradise isn't somewhere you visit. It's a feeling - a perfect moment where everything aligns.
It feels like there is no past, no future. All there is is the intensity of the sublime now, and you are completely wrapped up in it. Happy. Fulfilled. Perfect.
Okay, we're starting to sound like a self-help book, so let's give some personal examples, and see if this makes sense.
Our Paradise Moments
Paradise moments are so infrequent, yet so incredibly special.
Between the two of us, we have been lucky enough to experience a handful of these paradise moments.
Weirdly, the wave of emotion we got from each experience was incredibly different. None less important than the previous, or more empowering than the next... Just, different.
Visiting the Taj Mahal - Greg
Growing up, the Taj Mahal was something I'd seen on TV or in travel magazines. Something I had imagined being so far out of reach, so exotic, that I, for some reason, never thought I'd see it.
In my head, I had made it a sort of promised land. A magical, truly epic place.
Fast forward twenty-something years, I found myself walking through the grand, majestic arched gate, and there it appeared. A building so enchanting, so captivating, so... perfect.
I froze.
The hairs stood on end across my body, and a tremendous surge of happiness hit me so hard that tears rolled from my eyes. I couldn't move.
Most people who know me would probably describe me as a strong-minded character with few emotions (Yes, it's like working with Robocop. -Charlie). Yet, there I was in my early 30s, eyes welling up and unable to move - overwhelmed by this blast of pure emotion that I couldn't control.
That moment was paradise.
The Reef - Charlie
Having grown up with '2 weeks in Spain' being the family holiday itinerary, the idea of finding myself somewhere like Australia was a bit of a pipe dream. I mean... it's the other side of the world.
So colour me shocked when that was the exact place I went for my first 'proper' travels in my early twenties. I've got a bit of cash together, no clue what I'm doing, and want to start getting some bucket list ticks... so, what's more Aussie than the Barrier Reef?
I don't know if you've seen the sea around England, but a lot of it is brown, uninspiring, and you're more likely to find a shopping trolley or a turd floating under the surface than a fish. So to find myself floating face-down in far-north Queensland, dressed in a jellyfish suit and gazing through the crystal waters was a bit of a change of pace. I'd never experienced anything like it.
I kicked myself around the headland of Fitzroy Island, and swum into a small inlet, which is where I stopped.
On three sides I was surrounded by the reef. Vibrant, pulsing corals, fish of the wildest colours and shapes bustling around like it was a town centre. My poor English mind was not prepared for such beauty, and so I floated, staring at this new world in front of me. I can't remember much of it now, really. It was like stepping out of this world for a while and into another one. It was my first taste of paradise, and you might as well have called me 'Bob' because that's all I did in that water for... I don't know how long.
Eventually, something snapped me out of my reverie, and I swam back to the beach. I climbed out, silently, found a log, sat atop it and just let the tears fall. I'd experienced something new, something amazing, and I wanted more of it.
I've been chasing that feeling since.
Meeting the Great White Shark - Greg
This one is very different to my Taj Mahal experience.
After two or three completed dives and no signs of any sharks, it was my last shot before the boat returned to shore.
Floating a few feet under the surface, my hope and heart were sinking, and I was gearing up for disappointment. Suddenly, out to my left, a small, dark shadow appeared against the glistening sun on the surface and the dark, murky underworld below.
As the shadow approached, a grey top and white underbelly emerged with crooked teeth and wide eyes. A baby great white shark. It was only a small one, but I was so happy.
As I turned, mesmerised, to follow its whipping tail from left to right, its mother came, quite literally, out of the blue.
She watched her child play before turning and slowly, slowly passing our cage, and suddenly I was within touching distance of a perfect killer, a magnificent beast of a shark, battle-hardened with scars and a mouth lined with razor-sharp teeth.
I cannot fully explain the feeling that struck me as our eyes locked. It felt like minutes, but was probably only five to ten seconds. A sense of calm, serenity and peace filled my body. Weirdly, it felt like I was watching our interaction from outside our encounter - a surreal out-of-body experience - and something I long to feel again. Paradise.
I'm not sure how the shark felt (probably hungry), but I hope it's writing a similar blog about the day it met me.
We'll never know...
Finding Your Paradise Moment
So, if we are right (it sometimes happens), anyone can experience paradise anywhere. All that matters is that feeling.
In theory, you could find paradise chilling in your pants in front of the TV on a Sunday night with work in the morning, but it may just be easier under the shade of a palm on white sands.
Similarly, two people could be together, same beach, same music, same ice-cold beer in hand, and only one of them might be experiencing paradise - completely absorbed in the moment. The other could be thinking about lunch.
It's not random, though. There are things you can do to increase your chances of finding paradise.
9 things that will increase your chances of finding those paradise moments:
- Seek New Experiences - Most paradise moments come from doing something you haven't done before. Break from your routine.
- Do What Makes You Happy - Learn what this is, and do it more. Make time for you.
- Be Spontaneous - Say yes to shit! Want to go away this weekend? Hell yes! It'll take you places you never thought you'd be.
- Free Time - If your days are fully scheduled and predictable, then you've left no space for something new to happen to you.
- Increase Earnings - Start a side hustle, enhance your cash flow, build passive income. Money lets you do shit.
- Travel More - Life on the road will lead you to places where those tear-jerking moments are more likely to find you.
- Lose your Tech - Put your phone down. "Pics or it didn't happen"? Pfft. Get out. You'll know - and that's all that matters.
- Write a Bucket List - Sometimes meeting your heroes really does work. Write it, do it, enjoy it.
- Mindfulness - It's all about feeling the now. Try it - it helps bring you into the (paradise) moment.
A Word Of Caution...
For a while after your paradise moment, there's an afterglow. You'll be floating on clouds - but hopefully, it's not actually heaven for you just yet.
As you recall the memories and tell your tales, you'll may well find yourself drifting off back to that moment in your head.
But sometimes, you come back to earth with a bump. Turns out life goes on after paradise. We know. We've come crashing down to it too.
Think of the actor who finally wins the Oscar, or the athlete who wins Olympic gold. They have their moment of perfection. Maybe it's their paradise. And then... what? You have to go on afterwards - and this comedown can lead to depression.
The depression is very real, and we've talked about it in-depth before.
Post-Travel Depression – The Hurt of Returning From Paradise
How to cope with those pesky post-travel blues…
Feel it for as long as you need to.
With that in mind, we reckon the best cure is coming up with a new plan to feel it all over again. How are you next going to touch paradise?
Over to you
Get out there and start chasing those moments!
Also - if you're looking for somewhere to keep your paradise reminders - tickets, photos, souvenirs - why not stash them in a personalised Far Out memory box or frame from the Store?
Chasing these moments has been one of the key motivators for our travels. It's what drags us back out for the next trip.
Along with food.
Have you experienced a paradise moment? What was it? Do you think we're talking out our ass, and paradise is actually a beach in the Caribbean? Let us and the rest of the tribe know in the comments.
If sharing your paradise moment is gonna get you dumped, sacked, or tracked down by your baby momma - it's a story that needs to be told! Message it to us on Instagram so we can have a good laugh, and post it anonymously for ya... if you want.
The Tribe is waiting!
Cheers for reading. Goodnight!
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