When I heard I’d scored an
awesome gig on Sail Croatia for this European summer, many people asked me “why
are you leaving a great job and life in Australia to go and work a seasonal job?” They didn’t seem to understand how I could
trade a career path I’d studied so hard for, to go and travel, explore and
party in Croatia….and be paid for it.
What I couldn’t seem to understand was why there was even a question?
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| Having a ball on Sail Croatia |
Yes, I had the life before I left. Great friends, a fun lifestyle and I had a great job. I was a young engineer with a lot of guidance, but enough free reign to push boundaries and learn quickly in my career. I had the desire to advance and the support and belief of my mentors to do so. However, I was young (still am!). Young, unattached, mortgage free and have no real reason to be tied to one spot. Daydreaming about my next adventure. And then it dawned on me – what am I doing? I have the world at my doorstep, I’m not “tied down” to put it simply and I kept saying, “One day, I’ll be in….”. Why only one day? Why not today? Or tomorrow?
That’s why I’m so adamant, if you really want to travel, now is the perfect time. For me, being offered this job in Croatia helped me realise this fact. It made me see exactly what would make me happy every single day – waking up doing the same thing every day in a clockwork routine or waking up to a new scenery, a new culture, a new adventure, with hundreds of new friends? So why is now the perfect time…?
1. It’ll give you the freedom to be you…now
A lot of people have these ideas of “ideal” ways to live; ideal goals to aim towards, ideal holidays at the ideal age, ideal times to have a good job, a house and 2.4 kids; and if you don’t fit into this “norm”, sometimes these ideas can be draining. Travelling allows you to do what you want to do, be the person you want to be. Gives you a freedom unlike any other, away from ideologies, friends, family or even nosey strangers, who think they know what’s best for you. There’s no one there telling you what you should be doing, when you should be doing it and who you should be doing it with. There’s no clicking clock or timeline to follow, just you, being you and experiencing all the new things that come your way.
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| Freedom at Spanjola, Hvar |
2. You can always worry about finances, about that elderly relative, about that future promotion that may one day be yours
It is a natural human instinct to sit and worry about the future. Worry about money, worry about job security, worry about those close to us. What I don’t understand is why this is always holding people back. So you don’t have enough money to sleep in 4 star hotels? Rent an apartment or stay in a hostel. Your relative is getting older? Write to them or call them every week to let them know you’re thinking of them. Share with them your travel stories and allow them to experience it through your eyes.
You can see a future promotion? If this is the only thing that is stopping you from travelling, do you really want it? Once you get it, you still won’t be able to leave. Many employers these days love seeing that a candidate has travelled, has experienced something/somewhere new. It gives you a “worldly” appeal that can bring a big plus to a company. Your career will always be there to come back to, no one can take your qualifications away from you. Worrying about these things won’t allow you to do or see the things you want, or tick off those lifelong bucket list items.
3. The cliché – You’re not getting any younger
As general as it is, the older you get, the more attached you get – to people, places, animals, routines. The longer you leave it, the more “things” you’ll have to give up. The best thing about me travelling now, is I have no one else or nothing else to worry about. I can book that last minute flight, I can decide to go to Mexico instead of Morocco and pay an enormous price change without worrying about my mortgage, I can fall in love with a place (or a person) and not feel like I’m upsetting anyone else’s plans or like I’m abandoning things at home. The longer you wait, the harder it gets to just pack up and leave.
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| Getting some good luck in Makarska! |
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| Trying to "blend in" with the LaFiesta Girls |
4. The other cliché – Life is too short
Recently, I had to hear about a young life taken way too quickly. The young traveller, Alex was with a large group of mates in Croatia on the trip of his life. He had a freak accident and didn’t survive. One thing that stuck with me afterwards though was his “life is too short” approach he definitely showed. He posted on facebook before he left home on his travels:
“Someone once told me that one day your life will flash before your eyes, so make sure you make it worth watching”
So I say, in memory of Alex, don’t wait to start your movie. Don’t give in to everyday life stopping you living in the moment and experiencing everything you have on your bucket list. Life really is too short and it can be taken away way too quickly.
5. It’ll complete you
For me, there are so many things that can give me just as much (if not more) happiness in life than having an ideal job, owning an ideal house, living with an ideal partner. Travelling gives me a buzz I cannot describe to someone who’s never stepped far from home. It fills that hole in your heart that is always longing for a new adventure. It’s the thrill you get from that first takeoff, an excitement that builds up about seeing, hearing, feeling, embracing even the smallest taste, of something new. It’ll make you a complete person, finally feeling at home, even though you may be physically thousands of kilometres away.
And that’s why for me, now is the perfect time…
xxx
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| L. O. V. E. |
