I knew it was only a matter of time. My daily mailroom detours were beginning to feel like scenes from a scary movie... I could almost hear the suspenseful music, feel my heart pounding and see the key turning in the mailbox in extreme slow motion. Ok, that's super dramatic. But really, I knew it was coming. The lease on my Gramercy/Flatiron studio apartment was coming to an end, and with that a big life decision. Do I re-sign the lease, continue trucking along at my job and get another year closer to the big 3-0 having never been out of Manhattan more than four consecutive weeks at any given time? Or do I tell the building management company to take the inflated lease renewal that could probably sustain a small country to shove it, and force myself out of my home and on the road to my dream travel trip around the world?
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!
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!
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