Happy Monday my fellow travellers!
I hope you’ve had your warm share of caffeine this glorious day :)
A goal of mine when I created this blog, was to help encourage other young adults, like myself, to willingly challenge themselves. Whether that’s trying out a new positive perspective, moving to an unknown state or country, or simply stepping out of the “comfort zone”, I want to guide others by sharing my own travel tales, tremendous self growth, and honored mistakes. By enlightening an ample amount of the “unknowns” that scare a copious amount of individuals away, I hope my insights help another take the life changing jump I took!
Leading me to talk about a key aspect of how I got where I am: the art, of taking action.
Taking action.
Remember that time you told someone “I would LOVE to go camping this weekend!” then the work day on Friday suddenly ended, and you tossed that offer under the ratty rug; instead remained comfortable with your routined weekend “norm”?
what might have happened if you had just gone? You could’ve changed it up, a simple outing that might have lead you to an unforgettable weekend, making new friends. Taking action and following through with your proclaimed statement isn’t only a common courtesy, but downright enjoyable! Where is the fun behind a routine life outside of work? When you go out and play, try changing up the experience, the place you visit, or the people you go with!
This won’t be the first or the last time you hear these words: Life isn’t long enough for you to keep “putting off” adventure. Life is meant for us to exfoliate our minds; where questioning ourselves in the midst of a manifestation of traveling through, say Thailand, is fearfully craved. It’s easy enough for someone to say they’d love to tag along on that oversea adventure, yet the overwhelming “unknown” overtakes the mind, replacing their action with the pathetic excuse of fear. SO, try not committing, unless you’re going to follow through by taking action.
If you ask me, fear is this peculiar emotion that overruns the brain, before ‘said’ event takes place, possibly by days, weeks, or months. How is that logical? How could we possibly let ourselves be consumed by an anxiety filled, nerve racking pill of emotion to fill our veins when we haven’t even begun ‘said’ quest?
Let’s get real. Taking part in anything new is scary, because we don’t know if it’ll suit our “happiness” scale. Totally understandable! Instead of questioning whether we can realistically handle it, accept it! Accept the highs and lows of how it might affect you; if you’re prepared enough, the fear disappears after a few short weeks of understanding the new area. What if it’ll be something we ultimately enjoy? That chance will only come, if we let ourselves accept that rocky start and simply take action.
It’s similar to trying peanut butter on Doritos- sounds exceptionally disgusting, but you won’t truly know until you take action and try it! Perhaps you have a business idea; unless you go ahead and take action, it will forever remain an IDEA. That is a cruel torture for the creativity that’s trying to bust loose, isn’t it? Ideas are great and all, yet they can’t change your daily outcome on their own, the limitless experiences come once you’ve put effort into making it tangible.
Seriously, what do you have to lose by following through?
With that said, I’m going to briefly talk about why it’s scary leaving home, how I managed to do it/my experiences, and the benefits of the uncomfortable situation.
What’s so fearful about moving away from home?
I moved out of my parents house at newly 19; yet, I craved nothing more than to be across the country from where I started, regardless I had “momentum” where I was in Michigan.
At first, I saw an incredible amount of fear in leaving what I knew behind.
It’s a tough decision to make a small change, nevertheless move to a place you have never actually been before. I conquered that aspect by investing hours into research on a daily basis, where I was able to slowly adjust my nervous thoughts into knowledgeable thoughts. I would constantly surf the internet, as well as reach out to individuals I knew had traveled where I wanted to go, and asked their opinions on the area I was interested in.
It’s a risk- something a vast majority of individuals rather not tamper with.
In today’s society, it has become an acceptable “norm” to stay comfortable. I justify someone getting comfortable once they’ve lived in at least two, if not three or more unfamiliar places. After that, maybe you’ve found a lovely place you’d like to spend a solid chunk of your life at, so you live there, with the exception of planning multiple yearly trips to various places to keep life addictingly chaotic. Personally, Colorado with Seth is home. In order for us to both agree on that statement, meant we had to explore another part of the country, where we made ourselves uncomfortable all over again! Embracing the quest of being uncomfortable may not sound satisfying, but the exponential growth that warmingly greets you as you undergoing the process, is the deserved award for challenging yourself.
There’s also the “settling” feeling, that when combined with comfort, intoxicates a person from uprooting; this feeling keeps the thirst quenched. I understand after a life of living in a few new spots, it’s nice to root back where you were first grown. If that’s the end result, that’s a life well lived in my book! However, those result wouldn’t of had the chance of being truly verified if the individual hadn’t taken action by living in other areas of the world before ultimately deciding. I knew it was time for me to begin my adventures when I woke up and went to bed always craving more. There were lifestyles I’d never imagined real, and cozy, quaint cities I couldn’t put an image to- how would I ever find these places, if I didn’t leave what I had already loved for so long?
How did I do it?
I listened to what I wanted. I had the opportunity to stay where I grew up, or within hours of it, attend a familiar college for a few years, live a “normal” life. I was in a decent relationship, had a loved job, my own small business was slowly catching some fuel, but it was never quite enough. I was always thankful for what I had, the family I was born into, the life I was gifted, but it was my time to take the mysterious reins and follow my wandering heart. Saddling up, I would first pick the state I wanted to move, then pinpoint an area that felt right.
Why did I do it?
If I could have been paid for each time I had asked someone to go on a last minute adventure, I would’ve made a LOT of money. After trying as hard as I had for so long, I stopped admiring people, and started admiring places. Harsh? Ehh. Those places where solo hikes with my family dogs, to sleepily waking up at 4:30am to drive to a solid sunrise spot, where I could excessively drool over the sunrise before my morning workout, before attending school. Meeting anyone with similar desires seemed to be out of this world where I lived, my solution to my small predicament? Take action and find my people!
With that said, I finally started realizing who I somewhat was. Once I had begun scratching at that questionable surface, I stopped trying to be someone I wasn’t; as crazy as that sounds, it allowed me to find who I genuinely cared for, I found my happiness. Of course, I was still determined to leave for Colorado, but I was given an essential feeling of hope. The people I became close with at the end of high school also existed elsewhere- I wouldn’t need college to find them, I needed snow-capped mountains. Making a huge move at a young age allowed myself to quickly absorb any and all advice I could get from the new and wiser, “older” friends, I made in Colorado. Initially, I was able to start growing myself into the knowledgeable adult I eventually wanted to be. By acting like a sponge and mental noting all I could, my heart passionately swelled with each learning step. I had started aspiring to be proud of myself, collecting various “wins”, but also ‘failures’, for one without failures, is the one with true loss.
All in all, I took action. I moved away from my secure comfort zone. I let myself become vulnerable, in order to shake up my daily regiment, and become who I needed to be for myself. I met others who wanted to eagerly climb mountains, brutally wear themselves thin, just to relax over hearty laughs and wild memories of the action packed day. I didn’t settle for love, or for a job that tortured my happiness. I slowly adapted to living across the country, fully undergoing the process of understanding myself. So, why not go on that weekend camping trip, start that new business, or move to a new area?
If you wake up or fall asleep with the overwhelming feeling of “this isn’t enough”, figure out the first step for getting what you want, and take action!
Make your ideas become reality,
Peace and love,
The bug