Jump Start

I’m no fun.

Ok, that’s not entirely true. But if you bring me to any sort of diving board, or a terrifying rocky ledge (my definition of “terrifying” in this context is anything over a foot) and expect me to jump in, I will fall apart. And short of stabbing you, do whatever I can to ensure my feet never leave the ground.

But wait! When it comes to the metaphorical kind of leap if I can’t join you, I’m cheering you all the way. And as far as I’m concerned one of the scariest and most exhilarating things about this type of free-fall is that there are no guarantees.

I want you to know that the decision Chad and I made to quit our jobs, get rid of almost all our things and hit the road is a decision that we’ve made fully aware of this whole ‘no guarantees’ thing. We are two months away from our departure. Two months away from leaving everything we know behind. One of the big looming questions is, will we figure out how to earn money? Thankfully we’ve been able to save some to help keep ourselves fed while figuring it out, because we both see nomadic life as something we want to do for a while. In order to succeed, we have to be able to support ourselves.

We have no clue how we’re going to make that happen.

We have ideas, sure. We’re equipped with both ideas and low standards when it comes to what we’d do to make money. Take camp hosting, for instance. That title includes scrubbing shit from the insides of countless toilets, multiple times a day. I’d be honored.

But from where we are now, preparing to leap, we have no idea what’s on the other side.

Nervous? Yes.

Excited? Yes!

Scared? Yes, but not going to let that prevent us from having our fun; our adventure. If anything, fear helps us make a calculated guess of where to jump from. We don’t want to mess ourselves up by landing on rocks, or by showing off with an ill advised swan dive high above a drained swimming pool.

I’ve been thinking about this a lot; the feeling that comes with not knowing if it’s going to work, and doing it anyway. When reading the books, blogs, and watching YouTube videos from people who have plunged into a new life (which you’re usually reading or watching after they’ve found success. Not in messy stages of figuring it out) I would always come up with reasons why it worked for them, and why it could never work for me. Every time, I had a deluge of excuses on the ready, and I believed every single one. Never bothered to question them. Thank goodness I woke up and realized that doing something only if and when there’s a guaranteed outcome totally misses the point. It’s become a cliché so it’s almost hard to hear, “It’s the journey not the destination.” But it’s true. The journey is where the connections, growth, triumphs and tears are. And I think going for it, whatever it may be, is something we are all capable of. It doesn’t look the same for everyone, as people have different dreams and responsibilities. But there’s absolutely no reason why you can’t try. If you’re able to make it work? Great! If not? You’ve still learned, lived, grown, and have an abundance of stories. You gave yourself a chance. It’s usually the things that we didn’t do that we regret, and while you’re still here, it’s never too late to try. It’s your life, it’s up to you to live it.

So ready? On the count of 3….