When I started this blog in 2015, my intention was to inspire others to travel, just as I wanted it to do. Travel to live, to explore, to learn, to thrive and to find something, that can only be lived out there, with other travelers, alone, and finally within myself.
Since then I got a lot of messages, on IG, mails or personal ones, of people that told me, that I was the one that made them feel like they could do it as well. They knew they could do it if they only believed in it. Of course, it’s not always easy, but once you did the first step, you are there. You will feel it. Everything seems so much easier after the first step is done.
I saw how more and more people dared to jump and travel. Travel solo, travel far, in a van, with their backpack, tried surfing, started swimming and yoga. One can only imagine how happy that made me.
But the world changed dramatically in 2020. Travelers have to get back to their home country (where is home actually?) or are stuck, where they just arrived. Locked down, maybe with all they own or nothing to return to.
There are people who have to leave all their belonging back in Australia to return to their parents’ place in Germany, just to be locked down, quarantined, and wait. There are people who quit their jobs, their homes, their save heaven. Ready to leave, to go, to finally do it, but are now lost in how to handle the situation. There are solo traveling girls in the middle of Central America, not sure what to do next.
This makes me cry. Not only tears. From the depths of my heart, I feel pain. Because I see the fear in their eyes. Fear of the unknown, of not being able to decide anymore. Now, that they finally found the courage to go onto a big journey, something higher is saying no. It´s not about the individual anymore, it´s out of our every hand. Something we cannot control. That is, why it leaves us speechless and hurt.
But I want to go back to where I started here and take out one sentence again:
“Of course, it’s not always easy, but once you did the first step, you are there. You will feel it. Everything seems so much easier after the first step is done.”
Think about it.
Yes. You can do it. You just have to do one step at a time. That’s all it takes. Nothing more. No big plans. No matter how the situation will be in a few weeks or months. You just have to make a decision and then take it from there. But it is important to make one. Even though the odds will be high, that plans will change again.
Don’t focus on what you might have missed, loss or what changed. Just be okay with plans changing. You are still a traveler. It’s just someone else steering the wheel for a little while.
Even though I had to come back to Europe a month earlier than planned from Sri Lanka, I first felt like it was okay for me. Maybe because I am ready to settle somewhere close to the ocean in Europe and saw an end of the tunnel anyways. Maybe because I did not know that it would take so long to leave Austria right now. Probably that was because I did not expect it to escalate that dramatically. I thought I would just stay home for a month and then leave again, as I did before. But the fact is, our lives are changing at this very moment. They already have.
As a traveler you learn, that life happens for you, nor against you. That plans change and that in the end, it will be better than you´ve ever hoped it would be.
It feels like we all have to stop here and just find, what we took for granted. A place in our heart where we feel safe. Somewhere to stay and take a rest.
The cards are getting remixed. Why not get out of this as one of the lucky ones? Think of what your ideas were when you were busy with new impressions. Was there anything that you wanted to plan on, realize, build up, but you were just busy living the life?
This is the right time. This time is a gift.
Don´t get me wrong. It is totally okay to be unhappy, grumpy, sad, crying in the bed, not wanting to think or move. But, it’s okay to get up again and follow what you left undone. It is not about letting the storm pass and wait till it’s over. Because it simply will not pass. Not without leaving behind massive changes.
I don’t want to say, that everyone has to do online yoga classes now and start being a “better human”. Going on IG lives and start putting their whole life on social media. You don’t have to do anything. It is okay to stop for a while and let the emotions come.
But laying there in your bed, thinking of the glorious travels you have experienced, isn’t there something that you’ve always wanted to try? Now is the time.
It’s your own job to make you happy. Of course, in times like this, it is important to get help when needed. To have someone to talk to. But please! Don’t get lost in that online world, just because you are forced to stay home! Try creating your own world, rather than living in someone else’s.
I am not going to sell you anything! I will not tell you to invest in I don’t know what. Don’t let yourself be fooled by dubious high-income steams through the internet, selling whatever. (It won’t work, until this is fully driven by your heart, no matter what other people tell you.)
What I want you to do is to listen to your heart and find something to hold onto, that keeps you busy, that brings sparkles to your eyes. Read, listen to podcasts, try something new in one of the free courses that are offered online. Finally, start running again. Or: bring that plan to paper, that idea that you had on that night at the beach. Invent a game, write that book. Contact old friends and new ones. Find someone similar in all this loneliness. I know you can do it! Remember, that is is only the first step, that is the hardest.
If there is anything, I can help you with, even if it’s just words, a guided meditation or a yoga class, personally tailered to you, always feel free to contact me!
