I think I’m having a mid-life crisis of sorts. Having recently turned 40, I find myself looking around at my friends (my tribe, my squad, my soul mates) and am struck by how differently we have evolved over the years. They have mostly grown up, married and started families. And I feel a mild sense of panic setting in as I remember the things that I had always thought I would have done with my life by now.
It is not the stereotypical biological clock in action as you might be forgiven for presuming. In actual fact, I’m pretty sure I don’t even have a biological clock. Marriage and children are concepts I have only given fleeting consideration to over the years. Instead, I always thought that at some point I would travel. Not on holidays, but long-term, extended, liberating, messy, unpredictably beautiful travel.
And while I am aware that it certainly isn’t by any means too late to do so, I am now at a stage in life when I have fewer options as to how I will do it, and equally importantly, how I will finance it. I am now outside the age restrictions for casual working visas in many countries, and I don’t have any particular skill or craft that could push me through the selection process.
Having enjoyed a couple of pretty epic trips in my late 20’s, a change in financial situation along with the feeling that I wanted to be close to my family and friends prompted me to ignore my love of exploring for quite a few years. It was definitely the right decision at the time, and until recently I was perfectly content with my life. Then, 2 years ago, a friend decided to take the summer off to travel to the US for an extended holiday. It was like something suddenly clicked back into place, and I knew instantly that I wanted to do something similar.
I applied for a sabbatical from work but was turned down. Not in a strong position to leave, I planned an amazing 3 week trip to the US for the following summer (i.e. last year) instead. Within hours of arriving in Seattle, I had fallen in love not only with that city (click here to read my Seattle blog post), but with the freedom of solo travel and knew that 3 weeks was never going to be enough for me. This was absolutely something I wanted to do long-term.
For anyone who has never experienced true wanderlust, I can tell you that it is excruciating. It consumes you, it steals your every thought and pulls you away from the people and the comforts you love at home. My life here in Ireland is fantastic. I have an awesome family and friends, a support network that I feel terrified at the thought of leaving behind. I have a decent job and my own home. I have freedom in every sense of the word.
Yet something unknown is calling me away. Perhaps a better, more accurate way to describe this current state of mine is “fernweh”, a German concept I have happened upon. It is the complete opposite of homesickness and describes me perfectly, since I feel at my most content when I am rambling and adventuring, exploring a new or strange place and discovering all that it has to offer.
On my return from my USA adventure, I began to research long-term travel. I knew that there were lots of people doing it and I wanted to know how they were financing it and making it work. I discovered an entire community of travel bloggers, photographers and content creators who were making a living while they were on the road. They weren’t spending their days in luxury villas in the Maldives, but they were travelling, where they wanted and when they wanted (within reason, of course).
I started to ask myself if this was something I could do. I loved to write in my younger days, but have no training or experience in how to do it properly. I had no clue how to set up a website to actually act as a home for my blog. But still, something was telling me to at least try. I was quite simply running out of reasons not to, and I definitely couldn’t think of a better idea. Every blogger I have read has at least one post talking about the life of a blogger, and how it is by no means easy to make it. It is hard work but every single one of them also says that it is so worth it.
The message seems to be universal; hard work, determination, perseverance, and self-belief are the keys to success. All the other necessary skills can be learned along the way. In a post on his own blog Journey Era, Jackson Groves wrote “I have a theory. If you put every ounce of effort into one direction and one passion, it becomes very hard to fail. Failure is still possible, but it has to fight against all of the positive energy and effort you are throwing at it”. This is the thought that I now cling on to, my new mantra in life.
So, here I am, a travel blogger, struggling to find a balance between my “regular” job, and everything I need to do to get this blog up and running. Like Jackson Groves, I will continue to throw all my energies and my passion in this direction until it becomes absolutely impossible to fail.
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