You have the choice to manifest your own reality. If traveling the world sounds enticing but implausible, perhaps all you have to do is change your mindset.
Traveling the world—those are three words that, when strung together, fill one’s head with visions of blonde beaches. Or snow-capped mountains. Or cobblestone streets thronged with food stalls erupting with exotic smells.
We’re conditioned to think those sites can only be temporary, that we work to be rewarded with a vacation.
But what if life itself could just be the reward? What if you could always spend your afternoons meandering into uncharted jungles or tasting foods foreign to you for every meal?
What if you could wake up every morning in a bungalow shrouded in the cool shade of plentiful palm trees or at the base of some small ski town in a solar-powered cabin?
You totally could.
I recently found myself on an EVA Airways flight 34,000 feet somewhere over Alaska with almost 20 hours of air travel ahead of me. Seat 52 H. Final destination: Bangkok.
I’d imagined the day for years, but it took years to tell myself that I could do it—that I could travel the world and that my entire life could be as rewarding as the vacations I’d worked so hard to earn.
I left my editorial career in New York City, packed up my apartment and stored it with family, and I booked a one-way ticket to Thailand with no fixed plans. My only plan, for the first time, was to make no plans—to live unreservedly in the moment all over the world.If it feels like I making it sound easy, it’s because it is that easy. Once you quit your excuses, you quit living a life of mediocrity and begin living the life you always wanted.
1. Remember That Time Is on Your Side
Perhaps it feels like there are not enough hours in the day, and you’ve no time to even entertain taking a vacation. You’re drowning in emails, the little red notifications on your phone are starting to induce some serious anxiety and your Google Calendar is blocked up with back-to-back meetings that you’re almost certain are going to run into each other.
But what if you could turn that all off, if only for a few days—maybe even a week or two? The fact is that you can if you plan right.
You Have Vacation Days for a Reason
We’re a culture of self-prescribed “work martyrs,” encumbered by the idea that no one could do our jobs while we’re away. Otherwise, we’re troubled by the perception that we’re indeed replaceable, according to Project: Time Off’s report, State of American Vacation 2017.
High stress, guilt, and workload concerns keep us in the office. But the fallacy that “work ethic” and “work martyrdom” are synonymous is pervasive—and toxic.
Paid time off (PTO) is a thing for a reason. While Americans are rarely granted enough of it, we seldom take advantage of it when we are.
On average, employers in the United States offer 20 paid holidays, sick days and personal days, and two weeks of vacation per year. But the average American employee who can take PTO took just over two weeks off in 2016—we’d neglected to take the 662 million vacation days that were left unexploited.
American workers who succumb to various pressures—self-imposed or otherwise—are wrongfully deemed to be ahead of the game. In reality, employees who don’t file their PTO are not necessarily more invested; rather, they’re no more likely to earn promotions and are actually less likely to receive raises or bonuses.
But studies prove that taking time off actually leads to higher productivity and overall morale—which, in turn, leads to greater employee retention.
Ultimately, traveling promotes a renewed sense of purpose outside of the office, allows time for otherwise neglected self-care rituals like much-needed sleep and relieves stress, which reduces the risk of developing both mental and physical health risks over time.
So take the time that’s allotted to you; you do technically have it, and (smart, worthy) employers will encourage you to take advantage of it.
2. Avoid the Stress of Travel by Planning Ahead
If you still think have too much work or too many projects to get done before you can travel, power off the unnecessary, distracting technology and get it done. We walk around in a culture short-circuited by relentless demands with our noses stuck in our smartphones, answering emails, scheduling Skype calls and pinging colleagues memes before we even get to the office.
We’re all harried, short on time; there’s not enough hours in the day. But there are 1,440 minutes in a day, and I’m willing to bet that if you put your phone away for just a few of them, you’d feel like you’ve gained a heck of a lot more time.
Here’s the exciting part: When you’re not restricted by friends’ fears, inabilities or apprehensions, or confined to their itineraries, you can do anything you want to do, whenever, wherever and however you want to do it—and that’s pretty damn liberating, isn’t it?
Besides, when we surround ourselves with familiar faces we rarely break out of our comfort zones and strive to meet new people. Sticking with just your friends while visiting new places means that you can (and probably will) become a bystander rather than a part of it all.
Surround yourself with strangers and you’ll be forced to engage and immerse yourself in the situation—whether they’re locals or bunkmates in a hostel dorm.
5. Be Fearless in the Face of Adversity and Change
“Maybe everybody in the whole damn world is scared of each other.” When traveling, I often think back to this quote from John Steinbeck’s 1937 classic Of Mice and Men. I dwell on it quite often because I think it’s true—a lot of people in this world are indeed scared of each other.
But we have much reason to be, even though it may seem like it at times. I mean, we do live in a world inundated with terror and endemic terrorist attacks. We live in a world full of insurgency and a spate of pandemic diseases like Zika, Ebola and Yellow Fever that claim lives in all corners of the globe.
This amalgamation makes too many of us reluctant to leave the cities of our comfort because we’re perpetually paralyzed by the “what if.”
What if something bad happens?
Here’s the thing: We can’t live our lives wondering about what could go wrong, or we’ll never know what good could come of the risks we take.
It’s time to stop existing and to start living without succumbing to your fears.
Sure, the United States government issues travel alerts and warnings regularly, discouraging Americans from visiting certain countries. But it’s important to remember that the United States has not-so-favorable areas, too. Four U.S. cities—St. Louis, Baltimore, Detroit and New Orleans—have placed among the top 50 most dangerous cities in the entire world.
So, yes, we’re often at risk when we travel, but the truth is that anything can happen anywhere. The only choice we have is to live our lives fearlessly, or leave this world someday wishing we had.
6. Keep an Open Mind About What’s Out There—You’re Going to Need It
First of all, you won’t hate it. You may hate aspects of traveling—like living out of a backpack or sharing a bunk with loud hostel roommates or eating sheep testicles.
But if you hate everything about traveling or the places to which you’re going, that’s on you; there’s beauty to be found in everything and everyone (and sheep testicles don’t taste all that bad).
Traveling will inevitably teach you that, anyway. That’s because it equips you with an open mind after you’re inevitably hit with the revelation that people, places and things are different everywhere you go. It doesn’t make one better or worse than the others—it just makes us all inimitable.
And that’s a good thing because how boring would the world be if we were all the same?
Besides, you’ll never know if you “hate” anything unless you try it. You’ll never know if you “hate” a certain food unless you throw it up. You’ll never know if you “hate” a particular climate unless you go somewhere and experience the nightmarish things it’ll do to your skin. You’ll never know if you “hate” a language until you listen to one long enough it makes your ears bleed.
You’ll learn your likes, dislikes, strengths, limits, comforts and discomforts only by doing. And, when you’re off the grid and unencumbered by the burdens of everyday life and the influences of others to whom you so often listen, you will have time to reflect on those discoveries and truly get to know yourself.
Make time, make money, make new friends, make peace—but, whatever you do, it’s time to stop making excuses.
