Escaping Reality for a New Adventure

….Close your eyes.                     

Take a deep breath.

Clear your mind.

Open your eyes again….

For a split second, the corners of your mouth start to rise without you even noticing. Your eyes are slightly squinting, and you feel like there is no weight on your shoulders. That’s how you know you’re at a peaceful state of mind.

Now, I like to think that there is something everyone can do that brings you back to that peaceful state time and time again. For some, it’s writing, others, it’s working out, cooking, reading, knitting, or even the simple act of petting your cat or dog. But me? I’ve been doing a lot of self-examining lately and trying to really comprehend what exactly it is that puts me in that state. That mindset of pure happiness and allowing myself to let go of everything that’s starting to become a burden on me.

And I’ve come across a couple of observations:

1.       If I’m in a room with another person and I have to be quiet, my breathing becomes heavy and rapid.

2.       I thoroughly enjoy conversations with anyone that does not live in this country.

3.       I love to write, in every form.

4.       Exploring is one of my favorite activities. It doesn’t have to be somewhere extravagant. And I usually prefer doing it alone or with someone who is truly interested.

5.       My love for cooking and blogging has slowly been deteriorating and I’m letting people’s opinions affect me and my life choices.

For once, I truly believe I have figure out where I need to be right now and five years from now. I started to think about when in life I was the most content; feeling blessed, captivated; like, I was flying high above the clouds. Almost surreal.

And then I remembered: Florence. When I lived in Italy for 5 months for school, it was pure magic. It was like living inside of a dream. Being able to wake up, explore he city, grab fresh pasta or a glass of wine, and talking to the locals. The multitude of opportunities to hop on a bus, train, boat, or plane and go explore another area of the country or even continent. It was such an experience that, to this day, doesn’t even seem like it happened at all. The fact that I rode ATVs all over Greece, that I drank beer at Oktoberfest with the locals, that I made chocolate with one of the most looked up to chocolatiers in Italy. Those opportunities are not given to everybody. They’re extremely rare and I got to be a part of every single one of them.

That’s when I knew.

Travel.

Anywhere.

Now.

Tomorrow.

Yesterday?

Write.

About everything.

Every experience.

Every moment.

That’s You.

Now Go.

 

I’ve figured it out. I’ve finally discovered what exactly it is I like to do. I love to write, about everything, but mainly travel. The thought that I am sucking somebody into my story as if bringing them there with me is just as good as actually being there. I get to share my story and experiences with those that don’t have the chance to do so themselves. I think that’s beautiful. The ability to share your life with people all around the world and bring them with you along for the journey. It’s as if you’re never alone.

Which is what brings me back to my list. Everything lines up exactly. I love to be alone. To do things the way I intended without anyone interrupting. But I also like to share those times with people after I’ve actually done them. I thoroughly enjoy talking to people from all over because they give me ideas for when I ever choose to travel. I love to write about anything and everything, especially when I was abroad because it was something different with an adventure every day. And that’s when everything finally clicked.

I need to travel. I need to somewhere. Anywhere. I can’t sit still. I’m a nomad. And that’s why I’m going on this trip. I finally decided to stop making excuses, stop listening to people that weren’t myself, and book a flight to Europe for 5 weeks. I know, that this is the beginning. To know that I’m upset over the fact I can only see 7 countries during this trip helps me even more realize that traveling is what I’m meant to do. I understand that traveling in itself isn’t really a profession, but you can make anything you are passionate about into a profession and that’s what I intend to do. It may mean me working in a restaurant or a cubicle for the next 10 years while I figure it out, but it’s going to happen, and I refuse to ever believe that my passion won’t become a reality.

So this is the beginning to another adventure, to my future, and the rest of my life.

Cheers.