How did I prepare for the most disruptive thing I’m about to do? With baby steps and patience 🙂
My first step was to start dancing with this idea. It meant solo city-breaks where I could be free to see what I want, but where I could also share a walk with new people that I’ve just met. And, with each experience, a craving for more adventures started growing.
Add to this first step some fears that were overcome, some new things that I found out I’m actually good at, some empowerment lessons – both from work and from meeting and talking with different people, some therapy, a practice of having patience … and there you have it – I seemed to be ready for my adventure.
But was I ready? And then the overthinking part began:
- Am I ok leaving a good job?
- Am I ok leaving my parents and friends behind?
- Am I going to be safe?
- Am I going to have the financials to support this adventure?
- Am I sure that this is what I want?
And in the midst of that overthinking rush I got one of those moments when, in your head, silence takes over, you sink in this state for a moment, and then you just peacefully say to yourself: “f**k it, with goods and bads, let’s do this”.
The preparation part is interesting and it shouldn’t be rushed. Because in this time you will need to prepare both physical and mental stuff.
Briefly, for the physical part, I got to:
- exit orderly from my routine (quit the job, sell the car, rent the house) 🙂
- research South America, discover other traveler’s adventures and start learning Spanish
- establish some initial ways to support myself in this adventure
- vaccinate & ensure myself
The mental part … man … that’s where the true challenge was 🙂. It began the day I sealed the deal by buying a one-way ticket to Buenos Aires. That whole day I had a big load on my chest, like a guilty feeling. I guess it’s normal – after all, I was taking myself miles away from my comfort zone.
But this feeling started to fade as I broke the news to my close ones. Some took it hard, some were enthusiastic, some called me crazy. But everyone saw it for what it really is: once in a lifetime opportunity.
In this time, once in a while, the part of the brain in charge of the comfort zone would ask me – are you sure that this is what you want? At first it was a struggle to answer this question because of that overthinking I was talking earlier. But as I was advancing with the research for my upcoming destinations, the answer became clear.
6 months later I am ready. Both mentally and physically, as best as I can. What comes next are just surprises from which I will learn, no matter what 🙂
You came this far with reading my ideas, let me give you a “feeling good” song:
Nomadic Vlach 