While in the UK I had the pleasure of catching up with a prior work colleague over a coffee. We spoke about our time in corporate and I realized that after a very long career I couldn’t name one thing I felt proud of accomplishing. We talked about how the corporate experience, at the end of the day, is simply about piles of manure. (How I love British euphemisms!) You’re either moving a pile someplace else, hiding the manure, or smoothing it over. Even if you’re successful with the manure moving and smoothing, it doesn’t feel like a great accomplishment. It’s something you do while waiting for retirement benefits that you hope to get if you don’t get laid off too early.

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  I still can’t believe I actually went Ziplining!

  Ziplining in Costa Rica. Honestly, what the hell was I thinking? I don’t know how I actually made it onto cables high up in the air from which I could have fallen and died, but not only did I brave it, I did 17 cables, and I actually came to like it!

• Adjusting to rocky boats. I have hated riding boats, especially smaller ones, because if the water is rocky, even a little, I’m afraid I might die or fall out of the boat. By the end of my time in Central America I had been on so many boats I got used to the rocky feeling and it no longer bothers me.
• Learning to go with the flow. As someone that is accustomed to planning out, literally, every moment of a vacation, or even sometimes a day, letting go and having no specific plan, or coming up with one spur of the moment was a huge growth area for me.
• Speaking several languages in a day. Even if I got tripped up sometimes, it was great to know I still got it!
• Solo traveling. I’m doing most everything on my own, and I’m doing great!
• Regular blogging. For almost 6 months now (can you believe it!?) I’ve maintained a consistent blog and done a hell of a lot of writing.
• Self growth. Still growing, but wow, I’ve become aware of many, many areas of myself that I don’t think I would have if I hadn’t gone on this adventure. The awareness is allowing me to work on myself and become more of the person I want to be.
• Packing in to a carry-on bag. Though my bag is still too heavy, the fact that I have been able to live out of a carry-on bag for months still amazes me. It means I’m able to be practical, and since most of the places I stay have no elevator it’s a lot easier for me to carry a smaller bag! And, for most of my life I have traveled with a HUGE bag, as big as me, so this one is huge!
• Less shopping. As a person that has had a bad shopping habit, it’s been amazing to get great at being frugal and talk myself out of many purchases I could have made.
• Openness and Flexibility. There have been many times plans didn’t work out, or didn’t go as I thought they would, or couldn’t be made, or couldn’t be made easily. In every case I’ve been able to adapt and find a workaround.
• Jumping in to the unknown. I still don’t know where I will end up, but I plunged into this experience, knowing that every part is an unknown, not sure what I’d find, and I keep on challenging myself.
• Stepping way outside my comfort zone. Going places I’ve never been, last minute traveling, living outside a structured plans, these are all things that are the opposite of how I’ve lived my entire life, damn, good for me!
• Letting happiness be my guide and goal. Instead of a purely money-focused life, I’ve allowed myself to figure out what really makes me happy and make that the main priority in my life.
• Doing what I’m called to instead of what I’m told to. The mere act of daring to take this journey in the first place is pretty damn amazing!
• Saving the money to take this journey in the first place. I’ve wanted to do this for years and years and years, like 20 years. Good on me for creating the possibility.
• Living within my budget. I created a financial outlook and created a daily average budget and have done a great job living within it – major sense of accomplishment!
• Believing in myself. Jumping is one thing, trusting that you’ll be ok is quite another.
• Going to Nicaragua despite government warnings. No, this isn’t about taking stupid risks – this is about seeing that what you read is not always true. I met many female solo travelers that went and loved it, so dared to go.
• So far, visited 8 countries and 2 continents. I had never been to 4 of them before! I’m enjoying taking my time and getting to know places as opposed to rapidly seeing just the tourist sites in each place I discover.

Gazing at the beauty of Glencoe in Scotland in the midst of rainfall.

As I look back at all my photos I am in awe of my own journey. I’ve been to so many places, and had so many amazing experiences it’s mind-boggling. I think one of my biggest takeaways is that it’s really hard to break away from what everyone around you assumes is “normal” and “what you’re supposed to do” in order to do what you know you’re meant to do. However, living your life the way others tell you to often leads to a constant state of regret and wondering “what if…?” I no longer have that sense of regret because I am daring to do what I love, what makes me happy, and be open to the opportunities I find. Because I’ve done that I do have that sense of pride and accomplishment which I now realize was one of the major sources of lack in my life. I believe that if you have an area of your own life where you don’t feel a sense of accomplishment, daring to make a change can radically transform how you see yourself.

I know there are many more accomplishments to come and I’m looking forward!