Many people, my friends and fellow travelers alike, have commented about how brave I am to travel on my own. On my previous travels, I have seen many solo female travelers and I always used to admire them. Now I'm one of them. I think the novelty for me is also the fact that I chose to travel literally half way around the world, to a Spanish speaking world, without knowing a word of Spanish. And it's funny because I don't feel brave at all. This reminds me of what Nelson Mandela said in his book 'A Long Walk to Freedom', that many times he was also scared of what may happen, but because others were counting on him, he had to put up a brave front. I felt like that. Because I already quit to travel, I had to go through with it. But was it something I really wanted?
Truth be told, the idea of quitting my job and traveling to South America wasn't my brain child. Well, South America was but not everything else. Someone planted this idea into my head that I should quit my job and travel for an unlimited time. That someone was supposed to travel with me. After I quit, he quit too. Then I was left with 2 choices - either retract my resignation or travel solo. My first reaction after tendering my resignation was being in a daze for a few days, followed by panic. For the first time in 10 years, I did not have stable income, and for the longest time I did not know whether I was doing the right thing. You get so used to a certain way of life sometimes that doing something completely different seems so wrong. But I know now that it's not wrong, it's just different.
I did know that I was unhappy at work, and I was restless. When I pictured the rest of my life working as a lawyer in the same firm, with the same people, I panicked even more because I cannot believe for a second that this is my life. I know I had to work after I finished my travels but having quit after 10 years and traveled, I thought I would change the way I saw life, and the way I chose to lead my life. And I think it's working!
Truth be told, the idea of quitting my job and traveling to South America wasn't my brain child. Well, South America was but not everything else. Someone planted this idea into my head that I should quit my job and travel for an unlimited time. That someone was supposed to travel with me. After I quit, he quit too. Then I was left with 2 choices - either retract my resignation or travel solo. My first reaction after tendering my resignation was being in a daze for a few days, followed by panic. For the first time in 10 years, I did not have stable income, and for the longest time I did not know whether I was doing the right thing. You get so used to a certain way of life sometimes that doing something completely different seems so wrong. But I know now that it's not wrong, it's just different.
I did know that I was unhappy at work, and I was restless. When I pictured the rest of my life working as a lawyer in the same firm, with the same people, I panicked even more because I cannot believe for a second that this is my life. I know I had to work after I finished my travels but having quit after 10 years and traveled, I thought I would change the way I saw life, and the way I chose to lead my life. And I think it's working!
No comments:
Post a Comment