This post is the second in a series titled ‘How to Become a World Traveler’. The first post in this series can be found here.
Conquer your fears.
This suggestion applies to many areas of life, especially travel. Whether it’s traveling to a particular location or region of the world, a mode of travel, or the act of leaving your comfort zone for the great unknown, travel is all about being bold and brave. Recent weeks have found me in a holding pattern scared of taking any steps forward in fear that I will fall flat on my face. A much-needed pep talk from my mom and inspiring words of Tim Ferriss from 4HWW, I’ve begun taking steps towards a life and a future after graduation. However, I feel as though I have become jaded lately. I’m letting constraints of a civilized society tell me what I can and cannot do, but really, I don’t want a life that fits the constraints and norms of said society so why should I let those boundaries dictate my reality?
“If you are insecure, guess what? The rest of the world is, too. Do not overestimate the competition and underestimate yourself. You are better than you think.” – Timothy Ferriss, The Four Hour Workweek, p. 50
I am pretty much all set to graduate in December of this year and my post-graduation plans are rather unconventional in American society, but not so much so in many other countries in the world, including, but not limited to: the U.K., Australia, and Israel. Provided everything goes according to my plan (which we all know would be a rare occurrence), I will be taking a gap year of sorts, that will hopefully turn into more than a year of delaying the real world. I haven’t talked about religion or spirituality here, but I’m in the process (and have been for over a year) of converting to Orthodox Judaism. In order to complete that process I want to go a seminary in Israel for a year and then after that–G-d only knows.
This year is all about working to save up the money I will need to pay for the seminary and my living expenses for next year, as well as a few things I’m hoping to purchase before I leave, like a ticket to Israel this summer in July, a better lens for my Nikon d70, an external flash, and a new laptop (that I’m hoping I can swindle as a graduation gift). This year is an act of extreme budgeting, setting goals and extensively tracking my progress on them, and getting everything arranged for when I leave. Before I left for Argentina last summer, I spent the greater part of a month going through every single item I own and deciding whether or not it was worth keeping because all of belongings (furniture included) had to fit into a tiny 5×5 foot storage unit. That process continued when I got back and had acquired a new sense of what was necessary in life after spending six months living with only what fit into my two suitcases. I’ll talk more about this in a later post, but this time since I don’t know when I’ll be coming back, the goal has been to minimize to the point that I only have a few boxes, and all of my stuff can fit in the attic at my dad’s house to save myself $100 a month paying for a storage facility.
Finally, upon the realization that I’d like to travel for a year or so after seminary, I knew I needed to get a form of somewhat passive income set up so I can “work” remotely. There are several movements and philosophies toward this goal, several of which I have linked to at the end of this post under ‘further reading’. Even before travel was on the agenda, I always knew that I wanted live all over the world and move fairly often and I needed a way to make money even if I live in a country where I don’t speak the language well enough to get a job there. I’m getting a TEFL (Teach English as a Foreign Language) Certificate upon graduation, but I’ve always had an interest in photography and writing, so I’m hoping to expand photography into an LLC and foray into freelance writing. Both of these goals have put an extreme amount of fear into me lately. Fear of failure, fear of the amount of work will have to go into both to make either a profitable venture, fear of the amount of patience it will require from me, the list could go on. But as weeks have passed the desire to be successful in photography and writing has grown in correlation with my desire to travel, live a life outside of the mainstream, and eventually be a stay at home mother. These growing desires have shown me that I cannot afford to be so afraid of failure that I don’t even try to succeed.
In order to succeed, your desire for success should be greater than your fear of failure. — Bill Cosby
Also, a little pep talk from my mom never hurt. Through everything she has been my unwavering support system. When I wanted to go to college out of state, she helped make it happen. When I wanted to go study in Argentina, she helped me get everything ready. When I explained my desire to convert to Judaism, she took the initiative to learn more about it and tell me how proud she was of me. And now, as I look to pursue a career i writing and photography, she has been my cheerleader, telling me how good she thinks I am and encouraging me to find and take advantages of opportunities to make it happen. On days when I didn’t believe in myself, she never stopped.
“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.” – Marianne Williamson, A Return to Love: Reflections on the Principles of “A Course in Miracles,” 1992 (commonly misattributed to Nelson Mandela, 1994 inauguration speech)
As I start to take my first steps towards an unclear future, I encourage you to do the same, whether it is in travel or in life, as the two are forever linked in my mind. The more I travel the more I become aware of myself and others. There is a common humanity that exists between people of all cultures: common hopes, common fears, and common dreams.
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Further reading:
