Don’t let Fear dictate your life. Don’t let it control you.
If I let fear of the unknown, of being shy and not knowing what to say to a complete stranger, of waiting for one of my friends to take the trip with me, dictate my life. Well, who knows where I would be now. Who would I be if I let Fear control my life? I know one thing for sure, I wouldn’t be the person I am now if I let fear take over. I would be a completely different person and it wouldn’t be for the better. It would the worse thing I could have ever done if I let fear stay grounded in my heart. I would have stayed home and not taken this solo trip to Europe in 2001. Fear would have won. But I didn’t let it.
I decided to conquer my fear of the unknown. Of being a solo traveller, of meeting new people, of getting over my shyness and experiencing the world around me. In the end, I won. I beat fear. I didn’t back down. I faced it head-on and came out of it a much better person.
As you can tell, I ended up taking the trip by myself. It was the best thing I could have done for me. It enabled me to work on my shyness and step out of my comfort zone. And we all need that. Stepping out of our comfort zones. Experiencing the world around us. Travelling and sharing our experiences of travel with those around us.
There is more to life then staying grounded in one place letting fear grip us and not let go. But we have to shake it off. We have to be the stronger person. We have to conquer our fear and ask ourselves if what we want to do, travel, have new adventures in our lives is worth conquering our fears. Is travelling something you really want to do then you need to look within yourself and ask yourself if you are going to let fear dictate your life? Or you going to conquer your fears and come out of it on the other side a much stronger person?
I came out of my three month backpacking trip to Europe a different person. I wasn’t afraid to talk to strangers because in the end a stranger is a friend you haven’t met yet. I met alot of people when I was travelling and some of those people, I travelled with in the city I was seeing and some I travelled with throughout one or two countries. I was never alone. Unless I made that conscious choice to be alone while travelling.
I wasn’t afraid to get lost in a new city. I wasn’t afraid to take chances. I wasn’t this shy person anymore who was scared to open her mouth and strike up a conversation with another person. Someone who wasn’t afraid to get lost in another country. I stopped my fear of the unknown, of travelling to other countries, dead in it’s tracks. I leapt into the unknown. I am no longer afraid of travelling because new adventures await me around the next corner!
I hope you won’t let your fear of travelling stop you from experiencing the next great adventure in your life.
