A comment that I get over and over by close friends especially is "I wish I could do what you do" or "I don't know if I can leave my job" and my favourite "But you don't have commitments, you can just go"
The world exists to be explored, not to pass you by. How am I going to know what people, places and cultures are really like if I haven't even left the front yard of my house. What will I experience if I just get up, go to a job I'm only half committed to because the pay is good, come home to sleep and do it all again.
I believe that the world around me has so much to offer, I believe I have more to offer and if I settle because I'm too scared to leave my comfort zone then I will never grow.
If I never pushed myself to go to Thailand, maybe I would still be left in that cycle of routine or if I didn't do my first winter Australian season in Victoria two months later (which my parents did force me because I almost bailed the night before) I never would of met the amazing people I call friends today or my love which now we have been with each other for over a year. I never would've snowboarded again and I DEFINITELY would not of LIVED in JAPAN for six months!!!!
Guys that sounds incredible right? but...
My first winter Australian season I worked six days a week, 8am until 4pm. I experienced a lot of new people and at times was overwhelming spending that much time away from home for the first time and going from being an only child to a house full of 48 diverse people! I had to pay to travel back to Brisbane and return half way so I wouldn't miss my best friends wedding (I was also the bridesmaid!) while away I had a few of my house mates talk about winter seasonal work in Japan and wanted to experience it for myself and well without much convincing to check it out, I had to go.
I used my tax return money and saved after I got home to JUST make it to Japan. My time there was rough guys, I'm talking pay rate of thirteen dollars with a car loan, food shopping and rent to pay... not going to lie it got pretty scary a couple times but I stayed for my full contract and made it work.
Yet, over one year later from my first departure I was now in my third winter season in NSW Australia and together with my previous partner we are planning our way to Canada. While here we hit three Kangaroo's by accident severely damaging our car which we may not return home with and work has been anything less than smooth sailing for both of us, I left my first position after two weeks due to some personal reasons leaving me in a Pizza shop (mind you free pizza, not complaining!) with not as many hours as the snowfall this year has been very minimal.
I made it work because I got to say I lived in another country, learnt new languages, made friends from all over the globe and now we get to share our stories with you.
“We let ourselves dwell in situations because we don’t know what life is like without that person or that job or routine. Maybe because it’s what we think we deserve or that the unknown scares us & we’ll lose a sense of ourselves, our identity but what could you achieve if you knew there was no ‘bad’ ending? What if you got to create yourself, start fresh? I mean how do you know you can’t do it unless you try ”
I'm going to sum this post up with a story from the movie Walt Before Mickey - you can watch on YouTube if you click the link.
Walt Disney was flat broke, borrowing money from his colleagues whom were working basically for free because he could not pay them for their time. He was on the streets, kicked out of his little studio where he began to create Alice in Wonderland. After a while he broke into his old studio he had to leave behind and took the incomplete reel of Alice, managed to get to California and send it to a producer as his very last spark of hope and scraped by with $40, the rest is history and also apart of the film if you watch it.
Even broke, homeless and hungry Walt could not let go of producing his cartoons and look at everything he has done to and for the world, this is what I remind myself every week because I want this grater life for myself... I want to create, learn, grow, meet new people, give back to the world and those who need it most and hopefully along the way help others reach their goals or guide them however I can.
I can't let this go, I can't settle on a normal 9-5 routine, I will not let this go because I have something great to make out of my journey, there are no limits for what you love and the hunger to strive, do not settle for average.
Just because it's hard or uncomfortable doesn't mean it's impossible or out of reach.
Shannie x