Sometimes, in the blink of an eye it can pass.....& other times, it just
d....r....a...g...s....
d....r....a...g...s....
I have a feeling that there will be a lot of both happening in the next 173 days. Which brings us to 3.31.12. So lets think of whats going on that day......
The Urban Music Festival-(Austin,TX)
The Tough Mudder-(Dallas, TX)
Ironman 70.3-(Oceanside, CA)
Traditions Triathalon-(Biloxi, M-I-S-S-I-S-S-I-P-P-I)
Well if you haven't guessed already, I will not be partaking in any of those adventures. March 31, 2012 holds other plans for me
(and maybe my friend Mindy...more on that later)
(and maybe my friend Mindy...more on that later)
Yep that's right.
Come March 31st, 2012 I will be boarding a plane in Los Angeles to Sydney.
I found a smokin' deal for a one way ticket from LAX to SYD for $600.00....what a steal! This month I will be purchasing my 25th birthday present to myself and truth be told, I have never looked forward to 25 more than I do now.
So there is your update. Once I've purchased my ticket there is no turning back.....onward & upward as my father would say.
I went into my basement this week to search for my backpack and the poor thing just looked so sad and retired, like an old toy that a child forgets about....I decided to pull her out and clean her up a bit. It has been quite a while since I used it....Europe 2008? I remember the day my mother and step father went to REI in Tempe, AZ and I must have tried on 15 packs but none of them felt "right", but then one felt perfect.
If you have not been backpack shopping before, you should go next time you're in REI or anyother retailer that sells those little (or in my case LARGE) gems. It is always an interesting section to be in. There are people everywhere discussing their trips and where they're going....the excitement is so thick in the air you can almost weigh your pack down with it!!! The prep time for a large trip is always spiked with several emotions, but the most difficult is anticipation &...
-FEAR-
What am I doing? What if I hate it? What if I don't find a job? What if I get kidnapped? (thats usually implanted by a parent) What if I get lost?
You fear the unknown, hell, we ALL fear the unknown. Don't get me wrong, packing up, selling everything & saying goodbye to everything/everyone you know is definitely scary, but so is looking back in 10 years and thinking "what if I would have gone?"
When these fears pop up I turn the questions inside out and let it simmer,
What am I doing?
Something that I've always wanted to do, I'm going after a dream of mine.
What if I don't find a job?
What if I find a job that I absolutely love and it's my lifes work!
What if I get kidnapped?
Ha, well sometimes the worst times make the best memories looking back.
Just joshin', but seriously the time that Lucy and I were stuck in a train strike in Nice, France and there was little to no hope of us getting to Italy as scheduled, the cluster that followed is one of the best memories I have of my travel. Sitting in an angry mob of people trying to get seats on chartered buses leaving the country was not the best experience at the time. Looking back and thinking oh the relief and humor we found knowing we were sitting in the last two open seats out of the country until WHO KNOWS WHEN....well it still puts a smile on our faces.
What if I get lost?
What if you find YOURSELF!!! What if I find something that I never would have seen! What if a delayed train, or a wrong turn....actually turns out to be the alteration that makes the entire trip! Just ask any traveler, chances are they have an amazing story, fabulous insight into a mistake that turned into an amazing story of its own!
The worst question, in my opinion, will always be...
What if I would have gone?
I know that I will look back in 10 years, with more experiences than I can count, great friends that I couldn't imagine my life without, pictures that'll never fade with time or age and think....what if I woundn't have gone? It gives me a comforted feeling knowing that I won't ever think "I shouldn't have gone", who knows.....maybe I will think
"I wish I would have never came back!"
"I wish I would have never came back!"
I am going with no plans, no expectations, and for the first time in a long time (possibly ever) I'm just GOING. I am opening myself to whatever happens. Trust me, sometimes I sit at my desk, at a job that I love, and think....
you're throwing it all away.
It's times like that, I turn the tables and remember that I have never been a person to play it safe & I don't intend to change that just because I have a job in a bad economy, or I am (fortunate) American, and we just don't do things like that. It's times like that when I think,
you're throwing it all away.
It's times like that, I turn the tables and remember that I have never been a person to play it safe & I don't intend to change that just because I have a job in a bad economy, or I am (fortunate) American, and we just don't do things like that. It's times like that when I think,
I couldn't be more happy to do it!
The last year has proved to me that life is indeed shorter than we think, and the world is a whole lot smaller than we may believe. It's out there! Ready for you to experience! So what are you waiting for? To have more money? Money is not what life is about, nor travel. If you wait for anything in life based on your bank account, you will never have enough. The people who live for money will never have enough of it. To have someone to go with? Sometimes doing things on your own, is the best way to experience life & the time with yourself.....is priceless. Know what you're capable of and surpass it! That's the only way you grow. So push the limits and the boundaries because that's the only way you evolve. Don't waste a single second doubting yourself...
173 more days.
Push the damn envelope,
L.
