The year I left Canada to travel the world
Well, I guess I can say 2017 was a crazy year for me. Half of it was spent prepping to launch my dream, while the other half was spent living it.
That’s the long and short of it. I’m leaving out the moments of self-doubt and the sleepless nights that come with leaving Canada. The first six months of 2017 was riled with anxiety and fear of all that could go wrong will go wrong.
Spent the first six months of 2017 prepping for this year of travelling. We got rid of our stuff, dealt with our home, and said goodbye to our jobs before we left!
But none of that happened. And the fear of the unknown was replaced with excitement as soon as I bought my one-way ticket to Bali. And the part where I live my dream? Well, you can read about it here if you’re new to this blog, so I’ll just write about how I feel about living a life of travel.
I feel ALIVE
Even the crappy moments aren’t so bad! I’ve had bats poo on me, I’ve stepped on rooster poo, and I’ve had rats jump on my head! I do think Gary may have won the poo encounter award though. He stepped on a pile of dog poo with his bare feet!
All my senses are heightened, and my curiosity is endless. I wake up every single morning with boundless energy and a sincere gratitude for life. Yah ok, there are crappy moments (pun intended) where animals poo on me, but that’s the price I pay for this lifestyle. Life is all about trade-offs, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Of course, six months was not enough time to pursue this dream, and we’ve been planning this year of travel for quite some time now. I didn’t realize it then, but 2016 was the year where I built a foundation to launch my dream.
2016 was the year where I carefully laid out plans, only to see it fall apart
It was a blow to my ego, and I felt like a failure until I realized I wasn’t. Instead, 2016 sort of morphed into the year where I dealt with a lot of inner healing. While uneventful from an external perspective, I was growing internally. When a negative feeling came to mind, I asked why instead of running away from it like I always have in my life. When an insecurity came from a place of fear, I chose to stay with it and be alone with those feelings.
Before this point, my whole life was about chasing goals that satisfied the ego, but never the soul. Because, quite frankly, I couldn’t afford to pursue dreams that nourished my soul. I had student debts, and I was money hungry. Money solved a lot of problems, and that was all that mattered to me.
But then you get to a point where you realize you can always make more money, but can you make more time?
A year passes, and that’s it, it’s gone, how will you ever buy back a year of your life? You can’t. And the beauty of life is that you don’t know when you’ll die. I suppose the mystery of not knowing what age you’ll live to be is a reminder to not take life for granted. But sometimes, life gets so busy that I forget to do things that make me happy.
Assuming that I live past old age because of my life in Canada, I estimate that I have 39 years of life in this world. That’s 44% of my life lived in percentages. If I use the average age of family members who passed away as an early adult, I have lived for 88% of my life. I’m not counting the family members who never made it past the age of two. See how fragile life can be? You can wish to live to be an old person, but you don’t know what cards you’re dealt with… until you’re dead, I suppose
And so off I went, where I am finally pursuing a year of travel
Made a stopover to Kuala Lumpur where I finally got to see the Petronas Towers!
Finally did a south to north Thailand tour in 2017! I visited Phuket, Krabi, Bangkok, Ayutthaya, Sukhothai and Chiang Mai
The amazing Wat Benchamabophit in Bangkok
Exploring Cambodia. Angkor Wat, you are as beautiful as I remembered you to be
In Myanmar, witnessing the best sunrise of my life
Searching for King Kong in Vietnam
A year of travelling goes by fast
It’s so crazy that I will be back in Canada in less than six months! Just as I started counting the months since I left, I am now reverting to a countdown of when I’ll be back in Canada! Reverse culture shock will definitely be an interesting experience.
Inside this big dream was a series of mini-dreams
I’ve always wanted to do long-term travel. Check. I’ve always wanted to see Kuala Lumpur. Check. I wanted to do a full tour of Thailand where I can see the Buddha head in the tree and the majestic Wat Si Chum in Sukhothai. Check. I wanted to watch the sunrise with hot air balloons in Bagan. Check. I wanted to improve my photography skills and blog about it! Check.
But the most valuable lesson I learned this year is that I have full control (ok, almost) to create my life. Because at the end of the day, if I’m lying on my deathbed and I have regrets, that’s on me, and no one else.
That’s enough for me to go chase after my dreams before I hit 100% of my life.
If you awaken from this illusion and you understand that black implies white, self-implies other, life implies death (or shall I say death implies life?), you can feel yourself – not as a stranger in the world, not as something here on probation, not as something that has arrived here by fluke – but you can begin to feel your own existence as absolutely fundamental.
I am not trying to sell you on this idea in the sense of converting you to it, I want you to play with it. I want you to think of its possibilities, I am not trying to prove it. I am just putting it forward as a possibility of life to think about. So then, let’s suppose that you were able every night to dream any dream you wanted to dream, and that you could for example have the power within one night to dream 75 years of time, or any length of time you wanted to have.
And you would, naturally, as you began on this adventure of dreams, you would fulfill all your wishes
You would have every kind of pleasure during your sleep. And after several nights of 75 years of total pleasure each you would say “Well that was pretty great”. But now let’s have a surprise, let’s have a dream which isn’t under control, where something is gonna happen to me that I don’t know what it’s gonna be.
And you would dig that and would come out of that and you would say “Wow that was a close shave, wasn’t it?”. Then you would get more and more adventurous and you would make further- and further-out gambles what you would dream. And finally, you would dream where you are now. You would dream the dream of living the life that you are actually living today.
– Alan Watts, the dream of life
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What was 2017 like for you? Share your stories in the comments below!
Beautiful photos and commentary. It was the perfect New Year read. I guess it really boils down to, “If I die tomorrow, will I be happy with the life I lead”. All the best for this year!
Indeed! Or ask yourself, if you had one year to live, what would you do differently? Happy New Year to you as well 🙂
First, “launch my dream.” Perfectly put. Second, your 2016 struggle reminds me of a book I just finished called “Mastery” by Robert Greene. He lays out the foundation for how to become a master. It’s an enlightening read. But in it he describes failure as the stepping stone to mastery. He also emphasizes that in order to become a master, you must pursue your Life’s Task – the one true calling.
I think you’re well on your way to discovering your Life’s Task with this trip.
Lastly, this is what I tell all my friends and I truly believe in it: everything come and go; friends come and go; money comes and goes; the only thing that only ever goes… is time.
What you’re doing, it’s time well spent.
LOL, I typed this blog post in haste, but I most likely got the inspiration from you! That sounds like an incredible book to read! His other book “The 48 Laws of Power” has been on my to-read list for quite some time now. I’ve heard him speak on some podcasts and his story about the struggles he went through is incredible and really motivating! It’s this reminder that nothing worth having comes easy… nothing.
Ha, you say that while I’m sitting here thinking “SOMEONE MENTOR ME PLEASE OR GIVE ME MORE TIME!” I have a gazillion things I want to do with my life, but it will be hard to accomplish them all in one lifetime…
Wow, you saw some amazing things. The decision to go travelling is hardly ever a bad one!
#TheWeekplyPostcard
I totally agree!
2017 was a remarkable year for you. You had a lot of courage to drop everything and travel the world, but it was the right thing to do at this point in your life. If not now when you are young, then when? I am sure your travel experiences will teach you life lessons that will stay with you for the rest of your life. I am about to visit Asia myself this year too, so I can hardly wait. Thanks for linking up to #TheWeeklyPostcard.
Thanks! Many people say I’m courageous, but I see it as making a decision to ensure that I don’t have regrets in life. I hope you enjoy Asia! Whereabouts will you be visiting?
Congrats on making your dream come true despite the 2016 setback! You’ve managed to do a lot already! Happy 2018! Thanks for linking up with #TheWeeklyPostcard!
Thank you! 2016 was really the foundation for 2017 🙂 Happy New Year!
Wow that takes a lot of courage to do what you did. I am so glad it is going well for you. For me 2017 was a big year too. I got married and moved from the US to England. Thanks for sharing your experience on #TheWeeklyPostcard.
Wow, congrats! You had quite a bit going on in 2017 as well! Wishing you all the best as you settle into your new home 🙂
‘The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page.’ — Saint Augustine
Your decision to travel and explore the world is remarkable. Nothing is as fulfilling as travel I believe So, here’s wishing you a fun-filled year of travel. #TheWeeklyPostcard
I love that quote! And thank you 🙂 I still have about six more months of travelling to do in 2018 before I go home
Wow, That is amazing. Hope I can travel some more in 2018.
You really motivated me xxx
Thank you 🙂 I’m glad it helped.
So glad you didn’t give up on your dream. Setbacks can be so hard to overcome sometimes. It’s nice to see that you made it and saw some amazing places!
Thank you! I am glad too 🙂
The courage to follow your dream – that’s a rare thing! Whether it all goes as planned, or goes as smoothly as hoped, the great victory is changing dream to reality. Good for you! Big year – all the best for more to come! Great pictures, by the way. Love the shot in front of the Petronas Towers! Thanks for sharing and inspiring on #TheWeeklyPostcard.
We forgot to say Welcome! We’re glad to have you join The Weekly Postcard family, and look forward to reading more from you. 🙂
Ah, thank you very much 🙂
Thank you for your kind words! That shot in front of the Petronas Towers is my favourite as well 🙂
awesome! 2017 was special to me too, I’ve had a baby:) #travellinkup
Wow, congrats!
Beautiful post and photos! This really resonated with me. I did the same at the end of 2016, although instead of going traveling I decided to change career and follow my passion writing! It’s been the best thing I ever did. xx
Wow, congrats to you on following your passion for writing! Wishing you all the best in chasing after your dreams 🙂
Sounds like you’re having some amazing adventures! I look forward to reading more about them.
Thank you!
This, this is what dreams are made of – I’m so glad that you realised them!
Thank you!
Awesome post thanks for the sharing this nice post… please keep it up with a new post.
Thanks, Cosmo!