I don’t know if I can pinpoint exactly when this idea of long term travel first popped into my head but if I had to guess it was about 3 years ago. At that time however, it was more of a “wouldn’t it be cool if I could” kind of thought, not something that I gave any real consideration to.
I enjoy traveling and typically take a couple trips a year. About 3 years ago I started taking more adventure travel vacations. Besides my annual ski trip to Colorado, I went mountain biking in Moab, hiking in Arches National Park, Zion National Park, the Grand Canyon, and Sedona.
Unlike most of my more “normal” vacations, these trips seemed to energize me in many ways. And instead of being exhausted and ready to come home by the end of a trip, I wasn’t – and when I got home I couldn’t wait to go back. How could I do more of this more often? That’s when the wheels started turning, and an idea was born.
Why Now?
Gap years, backpacking through Europe, putting other life commitments and responsibilities on hold to go travel and explore is something that only younger people do, right? Typically. You graduate high school, go to college, get a job, get married, buy a big house and a couple cars, have kids, scrimp and save, and retire at 65. That’s the conventional path – the blueprint society tells us is the American Dream.
As we get older it’s only natural that we get more settled into our relationships, our homes and communities, our jobs, and our lives. All those things further ground us in place and make it much more difficult to break away and have spontaneous or crazy new adventures. At least not for more than a long weekend or a couple weeks of vacation per year. Don’t get me wrong, I believe in marriage and kids and the American Dream. I am also not bashing anyone who has followed that societal blueprint. My life just hasn’t quite followed that path (yet).
Consequently, in recent years I’ve started thinking more and more about unconventional paths, being proactive about living the life that I want, finding fulfillment, and doing the things that I enjoy and that energize me. Instead of simply waiting for life to happen. It’s an empowering thought and one that has resonated with me. It’s a thought I haven’t been able to shake and now I’m in a place in my life where things have aligned to make this new journey a possibility…and it’s time to take action.
“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”– Mark Twain