Skip to main content

We travel not to escape life, but for life not to escape us

TRP Challenge 9- Taking a leap of faith and travelling alone

Spontaneity hasn’t always been my strong suit. In fact, for the first 21 or so years of my life I preferred careful planning & knowing exactly what was happening down to a T. I didn’t like surprises. I planned out my weeks, days and sometimes even hours. 

So how did I go from that to leaving my well paid graduate job to backpack solo around South East Asia?! 

When I began recovery from the eating disorder which had forced me to become even more regimented in my planning, I started to force myself to not plan everything. I’m not going to lie, it’s an ongoing process. Before I came away, I still planned my weeks meals on Sunday night, regimentally made my breakfast & lunch the night before work. I attended the same gym classes every week, had an identical bed time routine every night. I planned my weekends at the start of the week. I always knew what I was doing the next day. 

It all changed when I began to realise I wasn’t quite happy with my life. I spoke about this feeling in my first post, but this niggling feeling intensified during summer 2017 after a few knocks to my personal life and well-being. I wanted to do something different, and ultimately to prove to myself that I can do anything I put my mind to, and I can do it all on my own. 

I’m under no illusion that travelling allows you to ‘find yourself’ in the most overused stereotype of them all. The real reason I decided to book my one way flight was because my biggest fear in life is to get to 40 & look back at my life thus far and be filled with regret for all the things I had always wanted to do, but never got around to. So I did it. I left my job, I moved my belongings into my grandparents house, I squashed my necessities into a backpack and I headed out into the unknown, and it’s the best decision I have ever made. 

What I’m trying to say is that you should book that flight, bus, train you have kept open in an incognito browser. Text that person you like. Ring your friend whom you haven’t spoken to in forever. Read that book. Watch that film. Go out on that hike you’ve been meaning to. Try a new sport, a new gym class, a new hobby. Do something which scares you; book a sky dive, run a marathon (or a 5k, 10k or anything in between). Take someone out to that restaurant you’ve wanted to try since it opened. Try something exotic on the menu, no matter how much you might dislike it. Eat that chocolate bar, dance all night sober or buzzed off too many tequilas. Or stay in bed and watch that show on Netflix everyone has recommended. Lay in all day on a Sunday or get up to watch sunrise. In the wise words of the Nike marketers, JUST DO IT. I promise you, you won’t regret it. You’ll realise how much you can achieve if you just put a bit of faith in yourself. Life is for living, and if not now, when? 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Life isn't all sunshine and roses

In the grand scheme of things, I am a very lucky person. This isn't me being boastful, I'm stating an obvious fact which many of us cease to notice the majority of the time. I won the biological lottery. Well I came in joint first with my twin sister. Sharing is caring. Not only did we win the great sperm race, we also hit it pretty lucky with the life we were born into. I was brought up by a loving family, in a small market town, with lots of friends and relatives around me. I hit the jackpot in having a twin sister, which meant I always had my best friend by my side, and someone who would fiercely defend me to the bitter end. I went to a good school & have a university education. I have a well paid job and live in a lovely flat in a quaint town with a stranger who has become one of my best friends.  When you have a life like this, it's easy to think you should be happy with what you have. But I'm not happy. I'm not sad, but I'm ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Walk towards the good in life and one day you will arrive

TRP Challenge 4: Walk to work My fondest childhood memories come from summers spent holidaying in Cornwall. A particularly pertinent one is of me racing my sister and Grandad up the hill next to Daymer Bay. When we weren't running up the hill, we would stroll along the side of the golf course, explore the sand dunes and trek up to the top. The view from the top was always worth the climb, and Daymer Bay still remains my 'happy place', even though I haven't been for several years now. When I find myself suffering from severe anxiety, emotional distress or unable to sleep, I close my eyes and picture myself walking along the beach. I breathe in every sensation, the feeling of sand between my toes, the cool Cornish breeze, the smell of salt air & the feeling of the sun on my face. It brings me comfort and allows me a means to escape the distressing place my mind is in. I often imagine myself walking up the hill, looking out over the estuary. I first use...
Post a Comment
Read more

A problem shared is a problem halved

TRP Challenge 3: Go back to therapy Growing up, our Mum always taught us that sharing is caring. I think it comes with the territory of being a twin. You share your birthday, your toys, your family and even your room (Me and Molly shared till we were 14!) Sharing is part of the package when you have a large family, you have to learn to do this or risk spending your time on the naughty step. However, material objects, birthdays and even space are a lot easier to share than feelings and emotions, especially when your head is a constant tornado of worries, doubts and paranoia. I remember my first experience of therapy like it was yesterday. I was at University in Liverpool, miles away from my family & then boyfriend, terrified and feeling almost constantly lonely, even when surrounded by friends. I was lost in my own mind. The room was dark & covered in posters about self-help and charities supporting bereavement, mental health problems and stress. I felt sick t...
Post a Comment
Read more