I saw these videos the other day and they reminded me of when I went backpacking Europe solo for the first time. I was not only scared, but petrified as I had never been out of the country on my own before.
Listening to the guy at the end of the second video talk about why it’s a difficult jump is a lot like why it’s difficult going backpacking for the first time, especially solo (ie…it’s dark, it’s difficult, no reference points…).
Traveling solo for the first time to land that you’ve never set foot on is like walking in the dark where you can’t see anything to use as a reference point.
At the end of the day, he had to have faith that he will be successful no matter what, and so must you.
I wasn’t fluent in any languages, booking hostels online wasn’t the method back then, and the number of websites offering information on it were few and far between.
In essence, I was taking a leap of faith. Faith that I will come back a new person. Faith that I will come back enlightened with new perspectives in life. Faith that I will grow on many levels spiritually, mentally, culturally, emotionally, even physically. Faith that I will make it through with flying colors.
So that’s what I did. As scared crapless as I was, I took a leap of faith, bought my round trip ticket to Paris and had 5 weeks to prepare, and the rest is TravelPUNK history.
Having faith that I WILL MAKE IT HAPPEN in every aspect: from buying the plane ticket, traveling on the fly, meeting the right people, integrating as much as I could, making myself open and available to whatever came my way, and having faith that by keeping alert I will protect myself from whatever harm or theft that could potentially come my way, I KNEW that I would be juuuuust fine.
It’s normal to get goosebumps and be scared on your first trip, especially going solo, but have faith, my friends. You’ll growth 1,000 times from this experience.
Has having faith helped you?
