Did you ever wish you could just ditch everything and go and lie in a pile of yellow leaves in Osaka?
Do it while you can because life is too short and you never know what is around the corner...
My parents definitely did encourage me to take a year out between finishing school and going to university, which was great. While most of my friends from school went off into the grown up world of academia, getting massively drunk, doing all-nighters in the library and taking the first step into their degrees, I got on a plane and went to Mexico.
I did voluntary work while I was there, living in a center for underprivileged kids, helping out and teaching English, so I didn't have to pay for food or board. Young, fresh and 18, I fell in love with travelling and the idea of being in a completely different world than the cold, rainy town in northern England that I grew up in.
When I returned to that rainy little town I had dreams of taking another year out before I went to university. I thought I could go to France, become a chalet host, learn how to cook and ski everyday. My parents thought this would be a really bad idea and that I needed to get into education, because if I took too long of a break I'd never get a degree. [Fast Forward 7 years later and here I am working in customer service, with my First Class Honours Degree framed and collecting dust on a shelf, kind of ironic right?]
After one year of a degree that I wasn't that passionate about (Physiotherapy), I began studying Spanish and International Relations and wound up living in Madrid for year to teach english during my third year of my degree. Madrid is an amazing city, and I fell madly in love with the partying, the culture and the sunshine. My boss asked me to stay on for another academic year at the college I was teaching at, I agreed and deferred going back to rainy England for another year
Summer holidays rolled around, college finished for the madrileños and with no one to teach and everyone getting out of the summer city heat, I decided to go over to Australia for 3 months. I had a friend who was there so my plan was to just work in a bar, experience Australia and then get a flight back to Spain to start teaching when the academic year began. However, when the time came, I decided Australia was way too much fun for me to leave, I had already done a year in Spain and I wanted to experience this side of the world, so I stayed
My mum was not impressed at my choice, and tried to persuade me not to stay travelling in Australia, and to go back to my job in Madrid, but I had already made up my mind. Writing this post, I can see that things I wanted changed so frequently as I was growing up, but I think that is a normal evolution, right?
I believe that everything happens for a reason. Sticking to what I wanted and staying in Australia allowed me to travel so much more and I got to explore not only Australia but New Zealand and Japan as well.
This decision also led me to my husband, and my stepdaughter. I am so glad I travelled when I could and was able to pick up and move at the drop of a hat. I got married young, and became a wife and a stepmum at the age of 24, which means that I need to stay in one place and Sydney is my home for life now (not such a shabby place to shack up permanently).
I am so happy with the way my story played out, and so thankful for all the places I was able to visit, the languages I have been able to learn and experiences I have had. I really love being married because I love the feeling of having that partner to share all of the joyful moments and new experiences with, and I love that we have been able to travel to new places together as well.
If anyone is in two minds about travelling, or too scared to take the leap, I would copy Nike and say ''Just Do It'!. You won't regret things in life you did, you will regret the things you didn't do. Travelling does cost some money, but you can always make more and I believe in the economics of happiness 😊
Thanks for reading my little life story! Does anyone else have problems with wanderlust and being awfully indecisive when it comes to your next move in life? As always, please reach out to me in the comments. I appreciate any upvotes, resteems and follows if you like my content! 😍
Thanks for sharing. I have a wedding I've been invited to in Sydney at Christmas. I've never seen Australia before so I'm looking forward to it :) going to try and do a bit of sight seeing when I'm there.
The only thing that's killing me is the cost of flights from U.K to aus at Christmas!!
Australia is amazing at christmas!! total polar opposite to christmas in the UK, you definitely need to visit the beach on Xmas day haha :) The cost of the flight is definitely a killer (plus making the loooong trip) but Sydney is a beautiful city so definitely lots to see and do here :)
Sometimes you have to go out do things on your own, traveling is one of those things in life you have to do despite parental opposition. Good thing for me my parents never really cared if I traveled when I was younger.
absolutely :) Thanks for reading :)
The first sentence of your title is just my life filosofy!
up to now it has been quite dificult for me to travel abroad, as I was born in a family with not much money. but that was a huge lesson in my life, I learned to live spending just what i really need, I'm still a college studant with no job earning the equivallent of 150 US $ in a month from my family, but with just this little money and all the life lessons that I've learned last year I managed to make a 3 months travel to japan wich I spend the most part in Tokyo I can say with no doubt it was the best time of my life so far. traveling is the most amazing present we can give to ourselfs it make us grow up enourmously. I cant wait the next travel I may be able to do again, my main dificult still to gather finacial resources to it, but I was more than proved that it can be done, and now with steemit i hope it helps me to have more amazing experiences like that faster
Thank you 4 sharing some of yours life experieces I will try to show here on steemit some of mine too
Wow thats amazing! Tokyo is one of my favourite places I have ever been, I would love to go back so badly! I love the way you say 'travel is the most amazing present we can give to ourselves'
Hope that steemit does help you to achieve your goals and dreams faster :)
I envy those who are able to travel freely. But I am not in a bad place. I have a wife and two young boys, so travel is extremely limited. But I hope that will change in the not-so-distant future. My boys need to experience some good vacations with us for the sake of making lifelong memories. Great post!
Thanks :) Yeah being married with kids is good too, and it will be nice for them to travel with you as a family :) have you got a destination in mind for the first trip?
Worldwide travel sounds really appealing... but there is so much I have yet to see here in the US. I'm thinking Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks, then Yosemite and Sequoia National Parks. Great Smoky Mountains, Appalachians... where does the list end!?
Yeah when you're lucky enough to live somewhere like the US, you definitely have plenty of options!! Plus road trips are always good family fun :)
At the end of the day, I am the biggest winner in this beautiful journey you took
Love you
Nawwww I love you
Thanks for sharing your story :) I'm inspired <3
aww thank you lovely :)
Really beautiful! You also learned to step out of your comfort zone, me too. I left my country 1 year ago. Have been travelling since and loving it! Life has got nice surprises when you step out of that zone 😊
Yes exactly, that is what life is all about :) stepping outside of your comfort zone!!! thanks for reading :) happy travelling!!
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Brilliant post! Best wishes for your family and your future travels. I love your name even, my daughter is called Hannah... Hannahlicious :) Please check out my latest post about Dubai too :)