I've been thinking about quitting my job and exploring the world outside Manhattan for years and made a secret oath to myself that when my lease renewal arrived, I would not renew so I could make this dream come true. End of story. But I had given myself this timeline before - and failed to meet it - when I accepted an offer at my last job. When my lease ends, I will have been at this job over a year so it is totally acceptable for me to leave and travel the world. Two years later, I am still in my apartment and in NYC. So what is different this time? I am.
I've always been independent, I enjoy taking on adventures and I'm happy to engage strangers in conversation. I've even traveled on my own here and there because I believe it's better to go on your own than to never go at all and let's face it - it can be hard to find friends to travel with who can take off work at the same time, afford to go on a trip or who you think could make a good travel companion. But now more than ever, I'm ready to take this zest to a new level. I can't explain it, it is just a feeling of confidence knowing that I am ready, whereas I must not have been in the past. But even with this feeling that the time is right, it doesn't make the idea of leaving my home, my family, my friends, my Manhattan any less scary or intimidating.
So as I opened my mailbox each day in December, I knew the time was coming when I would have to jump out of my comfort zone and start the process of taking this dream trip. The moment I pulled the lease renewal envelope out of my mailbox, it became real. I was about to embark on the awesomest - yet scariest - journey of my life, and I hope reading about it will give you the inspiration, empowerment and excitement to the same!