Day 01

A new page, a new leaf.

                                         

Backpack and passport, ready to go!

Finally after years of dreaming, months of deliberation, weeks of planning and a 14 hour flight, I'm finally here on the first leg of my traveling journey- in South Korea! And believe me when I say this 14 hour flight has caused me to reflect on EVERYTHING. But especially the support and encouragement I've received this last week when I told friends and coworkers I'll be leaving. 

I always thought that when I tell people my dream is to travel the world, they would respond by telling me I'm naive, irresponsible, or that I'm just escaping from reality, but on the contrary everyone has told me the opposite. The support that I've received has completely blown me away, and I can't help but think how many of us out there are holding back on our dreams because of what we THINK others will say?

I'll admit I don't know what the heck I'm doing, and I most likely will not get to see the world all in one go. Maybe I'll get homesick and be perfectly content with just seeing a few countries, maybe it will not. But all I care for is that I've taken the first step. This first step was in fact the hardest step. I've known for the longest time that traveling the world was something  I wanted to do but I just ignored it. That little voice in my head telling me to go travel was shut out again and again, so I could focus on getting a job, earn money, and pay for student loans. And in hindsight I'm glad I did because it taught me to be responsible, to work hard, to manage my own finances, and most importantly to be responsible for who I am and want to be. And that meant owning up to the fact that I wasn't doing what I wanted and being who I wanted to be. 

The decision to go after my dream didn't just come to me overnight. It took days and nights of agonizing before I actually did something about it. But that was the key: DOING something. That may sound simple but you'll be surprised how many people say they want to do this and that, and not do anything about it. But I didn't want to be that person. So I began researching airfare tickets and lodging prices just to see how much I would need, then I planned out how much money I would need and how I was going to save for it. And before you know it, I had a quarter, a third, a half, and then finally a amount that I felt okay with. 

I won't get into the whole spiel of how I sacrificed my lattes in order to save for this trip, because I know that everyone has different priorities. Instead I just want to leave you guys with the idea of taking responsibility for who you want to be, and to take that first step towards it. It doesn't have to be big, first steps aren't suppose to be. So whether it is to take a trip, to get your own place, to run a marathon, or to buy a car, just take that first step. Go and find out how much that car is, and I don't mean "Oh you know, A LOT." I mean, go find out how much it really is down to the penny. Go find out how many marathons there are in your city, and where you can sign up. Get a pair of good running sneakers. You deserve it. Whatever it is, make step number one happen and then we'll talk.