Apr 09, 2013

How I Stumbled Upon This Amazing Adventure..

Many people who discover that I am taking this amazing RTW trip often ask me, “So how did you decide to do this?” Let’s go back to a warm summer night in 2011 on our way back to the cottage. I have no idea, at all, what we were talking about that led me to this statement, but I said to Teague, “If I woke up tomorrow and I was 45, had a family and had never done any significant traveling or had never spent an extended period of time in a foreign country, I would be very disappointed in my life decisions.” We had talked on other occasions previously about living in one foreign location or another, but none too seriously; until tonight. To my surprise, Teague’s response was something along the lines of, “Well why don’t we just leave and travel for a year.” Really?! Just leave. For a year. Can we do that? I have school loans to pay off. How is this possible? Is this possible? These are all the little things that went through my head at this suggestion. From there the conversation went into “how-to” mode, led mostly by Teague – my travel guru. We decided that night that we would do it, and that if we were going to do it, we would have to choose a date and stick with it. No ifs, ands, or buts. We left it at that, deciding that we would select a departure date, well, at a later date.

Fast forward to that following winter and our date was set: March 2014. It was effectively written in imaginary stone.

The next question I usually get is, “Why are you doing this?” First off, I’ve never been one to truly “conform to the norm.” Just ask my mom, dad, sister, gramma, grampa – they’ll tell you. I do my thing on my time. That’s not to say that I don’t do what I have to do, but it also doesn’t mean that I like doing what I have to do! I am a rational adult after all! Second, after taking a 3-week trip to Europe to play volleyball when I was 15, I fell in love with the idea of travel and exploring different cultures. I also really enjoyed being “on the move.” Upon my return from my travels, I promised myself I would study abroad in college. Fast forward to my last college class and the study abroad thing didn’t happen (I was very close, but it didn’t). And that’s where my true motivation came from. Not achieving this dream of mine in college led to a deep desire to travel, to be somewhere else, and to see new things.

I truly lucked out in finding someone who had the same passion for adventure as I did. It seems that if you’re in a relationship with a one-sided passion for this sort of adventure it can make things a bit sticky. Together we recently traveled to St. Lucia and Dominica, giving me a taste of what cultural immersion would be like. From then on, I could never look at vacationing the same way again. It’s so much more meaningful going somewhere when you can do things that the locals do. Take public transportation, shop at the local market or grocery, eat and drink at a local stall on the side of the road. Getting away from the typical “American vacation” was a very freeing feeling.

So why am I doing this? Because I want to see the world. I want to prove to myself that life isn’t a one-size-fits-all garment.I want to inspire people to get out and go. I want to inspire people to look at life from a different perspective.

 Roam On!

 

 

Written by Jen Hays Jen is a marketer with a passion for the digital world and an insatiable desire to travel and explore all that the physical world has to offer; marrying the two to share her experiences with and inspire all who join her along the way. Find her on Google+ | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

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