We are about to trade in our comfortable lifestyle for the life of a backpacker. Instead of our beloved apartment, everything we need for the next three months will be carried on our backs and we’ll be sleeping in different beds for 90 days.
We are beginning to say goodbye to our friends and family, and frankly, this is all a bit terrifying. It has us asking ourselves, “Are we really doing this?”
Well… we quit our jobs, have a one way flight, and need to move out of our apartment before the month is up, so I guess that means yes.
Yes, we are really doing this.
Don’t get me wrong, most of the time we are psyched out of our minds. This next three months will be an adventure of a lifetime. We will undoubtedly become closer as a couple, and at the same time grow as individuals. We will be telling stories of this journey 50 years from now. Neither of us can imagine a more perfect way to begin our first year of marriage. But sometimes we freak out a little.
Okay, a lot.
We both have jobs we actually like and an apartment that feels like home. We’re both close with our friends and family and we love Minnesota. So it’s not easy to give all that up.
But there’s a part of us that’s craving a big adventure.
With all these emotions running through my head, the only experience I can compare this to is skydiving. Now, I am no expert on the subject – I have only skydived…skydove…. errrr, well, I have only jumped once, but bear with me through this analogy.
I’ve dreamed of skydiving my entire life. I imagined myself bravely jumping from the plane with no trace of nervousness.
Similarly, dropping everything to travel has been a dream of mine for quite some time. A distant dream that never seemed scary until now.
In the days leading up to skydiving, I imagined everything that could go wrong… Even situations that are hardly possible. Signing the waiver was terrifying.
The first bullet point read, “Your parachutes were packed by humans. Humans make mistakes.”
Not exactly what you want to hear minutes before you jump from a plane at 10,000 feet.
What if we get sick in South America? Like really, really sick.
What if we get robbed or run out of money?
I could go on and on about all the ridiculous scenarios running through my head right now.
Now, I didn’t actually “jump” like I imagined in my head – standing up tall and leaping from the plane. Instead, the man strapped to my back helped me shimmy over to the plane door, and pushed me.
Sometimes you just need a push.
An incredibly cheap flight to Colombia and the click of the mouse can change everything.
Once I was free-falling, it was one of the most exciting, exhilarating things I have ever experienced. Absolutely worth all the nervousness and second-guessing myself. It was even better than I expected.
Would I do it again?
In a heartbeat.
My point is that, even though we are both scared out of minds right now, I have no doubt that this experience will be one of the most exciting, exhilarating of our lives.
Probably even more so than skydiving.
So whatever it is for you, whether it is buying a camper and road tripping around the US (Mom and Dad, this one’s for you!), or opening your own business, or falling in love… I urge you to ignore your fears and jump.
Because the most incredible moments of your life come not when you are content, sailing through life; but rather when you are… well, pushed out of an airplane.
2018 Note: This is the very first blog post we ever wrote, and looking back on it gives us goosebumps. Little did we know that those 3 months would turn into so, so much more. We are filled with so much gratitude for what this journey has become, 4 years later. And we hope you enjoy reading the very first words that were written on Two Wandering Soles.
This post raises some thought-provoking questions about our current path and the choices we face. It’s important to reflect on the implications of our decisions, both personally and collectively. I appreciate how you challenge readers to consider the bigger picture and engage in meaningful dialogue about the future. For those interested in exploring transformative experiences, checking out destinations like Cambodia can be enlightening. The rich history and culture of places like the Angkor temples offer valuable lessons on resilience and growth.
Thank you for sharing such a compelling perspective!
Nice Post! I understand you perfectly! I went skydiving in Nepal https://asian-trekking.com/skydiving/ last year. Accompanying me on the jump was a jumpmaster and a tandem instructor because I was a novice. It was the adventure of my life!
Hey, I stumbled upon this blog and many things resonate with me. I’m half-Colombian but have never explored my ancestry (I don’t even know Spanish!)
My boyfriend and I have been talking about 3 months in south and Central America.
We’re wondering how much you both saved up for the trip before quitting your job and making it happen.
Hey Julie, great question! Everyone’s different when it comes to financial situations and we tend to me more financially conservative on spending and saving. We would recommend to have a safety net that you could dig into after your trip if needed and then living expenses for after as well. For our first show-string stop in South America, we collectively spent around $12,000 in 3 months. But that was 5 years ago now so things might have changed. Hope that helps! Let us know if you have any more questions!