As soon as flights are booked and the hotel confirmation email comes through, trips become a reality for me. The eager excitement of travelling to a new destination of the world kicks in. Travel gives me mix of feelings, where there is risk but also many opportunities, challenges but it also gives me a sense of liberation, reward and empowerment too. The idea of making new memories, meeting different people, doing things that excite but also frighten me at the same time but most importantly, i’m leaving another part of my heart in a different country in the world.
When I started my blog, I chose blog name that resonated with myself at the time and where I wanted to be in the future. It was my journey to becoming empowered, independent but more over, fearless. This is something I always use my travels to do. I push myself to my limits, where I can return home feeling I achieved something more than if I stayed in London. Fear is just a psychological block that stops you from enjoying life to the fullest and I refuse to let it be the barrier of my life.
I often get asked my people on my travels, when I mention i’m a travel blogger. They ask, why? What made you want to be a travel blogger? I simply respond with, travel empowers me. My dose that makes me feel like i’m living a separate life, where anything is achievable.
I feel more at one with the world when I travel. I take the time to appreciate the little beauties of the world, from gorgeous architecture to the different cultures of the world. It makes me want to learn another language every time I travel too. I feel more connected to the present than what was in the past or what is to come in the future. It teaches me to have a better sense of my surroundings, a key attention to the little details and never stop looking up.
I have met some inspirational people on my travels too, whom the most recent person was on my trip to Madrid recently. We were having dinner in a local authentic Spanish restaurant, when there was a lady sitting next to us on her own. She was contently eating away without even using her phone. I was looking at the menu, trying to decide what to eat and she picked up on my British accent as she was from London herself. We discussed the menu to begin with, but from what started as a very formal conversation became totally informal. An hour and a half later, we were sharing personal things from our lives. She had this warming aura about her that made me feel so connected to her. She shared stories about her breaks-ups, alcoholism but these weren’t the things that shocked or inspired me. The part that inspired me is that through all the bad she had gone through, she was still the happiest and most successful person. She designed and produced her own jewellery that was made from antique pieces, which meant each of them was one of a kind and a single piece. She now is stocked at many of the many luxury department stores in London and New York. She was now contently travelling around Europe to visit many different art inspired museums to gain inspiration for her next line of jewellery.
As I mentioned before, travel makes me challenge myself. It has taught new skills and made me do things I would have normally feared. I learnt to play archery, golf and had a session of quad biking at Trump Turnberry. I had a go at rowing on an open lake in Madrid, I hiked to the highest point of Sintra in Portugal, where I stood on one rock to admire the view for many miles even with my phobia of heights. I came across lizards in Tuscany, when I was barefoot too. I have come face to face with a wild monkey in Ngorongoro Crater safari park, I stood right at the edge of a cliff in Lulworth, I rode a boat through Niagara Falls and I swam in Lake Geneva. However, these are just a few of the experiences my travels have pushed me to set aside my fears and attempt to be fearless.
Most of all, travel makes me feel so grounded and appreciate the life I have. Not everyone is lucky enough to travel in the first place or haven’t seen much of the world. Others live in poverty and spend the lives begging on the streets just to be able to eat. It has taught me to help others that are less fortunate than I and not even for recognition, just for being that extra bit of ‘good’ in the world. I want to be able to give back to the world, since it gives me so much already through travel.
The reality of it is that we are just small speck in this grand and beautiful world. There are so many opportunities to grow and be the person you want to be. I have definitely become stronger, confident and discovered more about myself through my travels.
This is why travel makes me feel empowered.
Until next time…
