No wonder an arplane needs an autopilot
Turn your autopilot off sometimes
I used to have an airplane that had an autopilot.
It wasn't as fancy as the ones airlines have, but it would track to a beacon or stay on a programed course. And, it would hold a programmed altitude. It took care of a lot of the mundane work of being a pilot.
I would get used to it and not realize how much I depended on it until I was flying a plane that didn't have one.
Our brains have a fantastic autopilot, too
Have you ever been driving to work and suddenly wonder if you've passed your exit? You've made this trip hundreds of times. Your eyes saw everything, and fed the information to your subconcious mind, but it didn't register with your concious mind.
It's like when an employee comes into the office and wants to borrow a pencil. The secretary doesn't bother to tell the boss. It's not important. She only tells the boss important things that she thinks he needs or would want to know.
Your subconcious mind works the same way. It only tells your concious mind what it thinks it would want to know.
I'll be turning my brain's autopilot off for a while
I have almost everything out of my motorhome and will be delivering it to the consignment company on Thursday. I'll be on my way to living an equally exciting life. Instead of living in an RV, I'll be living in a foreign country, and for sure, I won't be on autopilot when I arrive in Costa Rica becasue almost everything will be new and different.
My brain will be super active taking in everything that's new—including the language. I can speak and understand some Spanish, but it won't come natural. I will always have to stop and think before I say anything.
Bottom line: When you're RVing and traveling in areas you haven't seen before, your subconcious mind reports almost everything to your concious mind. Your subconcious mind is keenly aware of all the new things that are going on around you. And if you're in a foreign country where everything is new, you're even more aware of the thigns around you.