Kerala, India
“You’re so lucky that you get to travel so much!”
“I’m jealous of your life!”
“I’m living vicariously through you!”
Let me let you in on a big secret: Travel has nothing to do with luck. Luck is finding a $10 bill on the sidewalk.
All I have wanted to do is travel. I didn’t grow up traveling, but I found a way to make it happen. The first time I stepped on a plane, I was 19. The next year I moved to England to study abroad. Fast forward a little over a decade, I’ve been to 44 countries on five continents; I lived in five states and five countries. Eight-year-old Anna would be so proud of 34-year-old me.
How do I travel so much? First of all, I don’t have a trust fund. I found jobs that paid me to travel. I taught English in Thailand, freelanced for travel/lifestyle magazines and ran photo trips in Asia. (Many of these gigs paid for my travel and living expenses.) Sometimes I worked three jobs to save money to travel on my own – I worked as a freelance photographer but also waited tables/bartended, worked retail and taught university photo classes. I cut all unnecessary expenses. Every decision I made was for my next adventure. I even rented out a friend’s living room for $230 a month when I first moved to Austin and slept on an air mattress to save money for my South America trip. (Vagabonds like me don’t sign leases.) I have quit countless jobs—even jobs that I loved—to travel. Do you have to work three jobs to be able to afford to travel? Do you have to quit your job and sleep on an air mattress in your friend’s living room? Do you have to do exactly what I did to travel? Absolutely not.
If I want to do something, I do it. It’s that simple. Sometimes it takes weeks, sometimes it takes months or even years. Regardless, I MAKE it happen. I travel because it makes me feel alive and believe everyone should do the things that make them feel alive.
The secret to traveling and living your daydreams comes down to three things: priorities, relentless persistence and courage.
1. Priorities
The great paradox of life is the relationship between money and time. You either have an abundance of one or a shortage of the other. Write down a list of your top three priorities. Find ways to make time or funding for them. Eliminate anything that gets in the way. Sometimes that means eliminating things you want to do – saying no to a dinner with a friend in order to work on a personal project or to save money. Follow the 80/20 rule: Invest your time in 20% of your actions that provide 80% of the results in your life.
2. Relentless Persistence
I refuse to be ignored. That’s how I got hired to shoot for countless magazines. I cold called and emailed until I got a meeting. After the meeting, I stayed on their radar and got access to events I knew they were covering. My persistence got me the job almost every time.
When something I’ve been working hard for falls through, I also accept that the timing isn’t right. My schedule is simply clearing up so I can focus my time on something else. Regardless, my goal remains the same even though my methods and direction may change.
3. Courage
I admit it – I hate to fly. But, I love to travel more than I hate to fly so I do it anyways. I refuse to let fear control my actions or regrets to control my life. When I’m 80, I’d rather talk about my globetrotting adventures instead of the time I was too scared to get on the plane.
What is stopping you? Write down the obstacles in your way and find a solution for each. Everything I do scares me and that’s exactly why I do it. The secret is to break big challenges into small manageable steps. The idea of moving to England alone to study abroad was overwhelming at first. (It was my third time flying and first trip overseas.) I broke it down into smaller pieces. All I had to do was get on the plane. That was my first goal. Once I was on the plane, I focused on the next goal, etc.
Now, I challenge you to go do the things you want to do! The minute you do, the world will start to notice.
