Are earthly pleasures a hindrance to Spiritual growth?

Following is an excerpt from a samvaad (dialogue) session with Acharya Prashant.

Question: On one hand I want to spiritually grow towards enlightenment, but at the same time, some side of me wants to have earthly freedom, experiences like traveling, even though I know that those things won’t bring me true Joy.

Are earthly pleasures a hindrance to spiritual growth?

Acharya Prashant(AP): There is no dissonance between Spiritual Joy, and earthly living. The one who is not spiritually developed may travel to all corners of the earth, but would still remain joyless. So what is the point in travelling?

There is the wandering monk; look at his Joy. There is the Fakir (Monk) who travels from place to place, village to village, sometimes from country to country. Traditionally, in India, Sadhus (Monk) would forbid themselves from staying too long at any one place. They would just keep travelling.

Buddha and Mahavir, the great ascetics, they traveled all their life. Even Guru Nanak made voyages, long distance travels — to the east, to the south, to the west. That’s one kind of travelling — in which you are already full of Joy, and you are travelling to disseminate that Joy. You are travelling so that even others may have that Joy.