I read a blog post titled “How I can Afford to Travel the World, and You’re not Going to Like it.” The author revealed that her secret was to just do it. To just travel the world. Had I read this 4 years ago I would have been frustrated by the simplicity and written if off as a privileged girl who was way out of line suggesting that life was just as easy for everyone. I mean people have obligations they can’t just get up and walk away from their lives even if they're unhappy, can they? I mean its irresponsible, isn’t it? 4 years ago I had so many reasons to stay in a life that didn’t make me happy. Every time I thought about traveling I instantly thought of all the things I just HAD to do FIRST. “I have to finish college first, I have to get a great job first, I have to have that job long enough to look good on a resume first, I have to save up enough money first, I have to get a car that’s dependable first, I have to get my passport first.”
For my whole life I’d consistently moved every 2 years. My poor family was exhausted and I’m sure cringed every time they saw my number on their caller ID. I was filled with a restrained wanderlust which kept me bouncing within the borders of my rural county. “How long do you plan on staying this time?” everyone asked. It was almost a joke, “make sure you keep the boxes, hell why don’t you just keep your things in the boxes and save yourself some time. By 21 I had moved 23 times, I had a problem with the word permanent, and long term commitment. It wasn’t that my intention was to move so frequently its just that soon I would get antsy, I fantasized about other apartments other towns, other neighbors. Every time I painted or arranged my furniture I really thought I was setting down roots. Inevitably I would start to wonder, and then wander. It was difficult because I didn’t realize that traveling, real traveling not this weird temporary relief I got from moving down the block, was an option for me. Now that I’m older I realize that there are lots of people out there just like me who shutter when a lease forces them to commit, when people ask us what we want to do with our lives, and anytime someone says that nasty word permanent.
This blog is for you fellow wanderers, unsettled souls who have yet to leave your first home, or have moved more times then they’ve been alive. This is for you lovers of airports, and craigslist, sun chasers, snow birds and snow boarders. This is for the people who've always wanted to just throw it all out and then start over. This is for the people waiting for validation that not wanting to settle down, or settle for, doesn’t make you crazy or difficult. If you’ve always wanted to live somewhere or go somewhere I hope that you do, and I hope that this blog is a helpful guide to you. I hope you travel the world, travel your road, your block, your county, your state, your country. The world is filled with love and opportunity everywhere you look. Its not a matter of opportunity its a matter of aligning yourself with that opportunity and being ready to take it.
When I finally moved it wasn’t because I finally saved enough money, or got a dependable car (I didn’t even have a car I lived in town and just walked everywhere), or finished college (actually I had dropped out), or had a great job or a great job offer I didn’t have any of the things I told myself I needed to really move. What I had was a date. My roommates informed me that they were going to move out early and break the lease, they offered to stay until I found roommates to sublease from which was very nice of them but I decided it was time. I was 21 years old and had been bitching about my tiny town since as long as myself or anyone who knew me could remember. It was time to go.
I didn’t think that I had any connections, no rich family members in far away places, no family vacation homes, just me myself and I is all I thought I had. This is a very individualistic perspective and it turns out it was untrue! After getting on facebook and connecting with an aunt that I had in South Carolina, a woman I had never met and who wasn’t even technically my aunt any more, she was divorced from my step fathers brother, but regardless she said that I could move in with her while I looked for a job and my own place. Here I’d been running this script in my head for years about all the opportunities I didn’t have, all the things I couldn’t do, and it turns out that script I was so sure was bulletproof was shot to hell.
I had been living on my own for nearly 5 years at that point having gotten my first place at 16 and I had accumulated furniture, lots and lots of furniture and pretty trinkets, nice cocktail sets, brandy sets, wine glasses, china, beautiful pictures, hundreds of books, cd’s, and clothes clothes CLOTHES. All things that I thought were important and would make me happy. 5 years worth of collecting and I gave it all away and what I couldn’t give away I donated or threw away. My whole life, things I was so sure would prove that I was an adult, a successful adult and none of it actually mattered. I packed two suitcases thats it, thats all that was left of an apartment full of stuff. I boarded a grey hound bus and left my home my family my friends, off to a place I’d never been to live with people I’d never met with no job prospects and no real plans. It was the best thing I’ve ever done.
My advice to people who want to move is the same as the woman in that wonderful article I read on a facebook feed. If you want to go just go. If you set your intention the world will take care of the rest. I’ve actually gotten a little addicted to throwing myself into the universe and watching it work out. Im always surprised and incredibly renewed each time I move. About a year and a half ago I got rid of all my things, again, and bought a one way ticket to JFK, and then a taxi to Bed-Stuy. Once again to live with people that I’d never met to stay in a place I’d never been, with no job prospectives and no real plans. Within 24 hours I had a job interview which let to a full time job the following week, and was sitting under some sort of fruit vines soaking up the sun in an outdoor bbq in Williamsburg, sipping on whiskey punch and watching a young jazz band play their hearts out.
My life is magical, life is magical, your life is magical, all you have to do is jump into it.
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