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"Be brave. Take risks. Nothing can substitute experience."

- Paulo Coelho

It is in the quiet moments when the doubt sneaks in. When I am lying in bed trying to sleep, when I am doing dishes in a quiet house, when I am driving home in the dark. What am I giving up? I look around at my cute  little house in an amazing location, at my awesome roommate, at my adorable little furballs and think, why am I giving this up? I have a pretty darn good life here in Austin - good friends, good family, a job (that often takes over my life - but that is for a whole series of posts another time), weekends filled with whatever I want. I have a pretty good existence.....so why am I leaving it all behind? Because I want to do something more, I don't want to merely exist anymore. I don't want to get by - I want to thrive.

I want to jump out of bed because I can't wait to start my day instead of hitting the snooze button 6 times.

I want to light up and get excited when I talk about what I do, I don't want to roll my eyes and talk about how many hours I worked this week.

I want to see those gorgeous locations that I've only dreamed about, not just gaze longingly at pictures in a magazine wondering if and when I'll ever get there.

I don't want to live a life that burns me out to the point where I need to take a 10 day break from it all - I want to lead a fulfilled, adventurous life that gives me more happiness and energy that any vacation could.

I want more.

Look at this stuff, isn't it neat, wouldn't you think my collection's complete? Wouldn't you think that I am the girl, the girl who has everything?.....I've got gadgets and gizmos a plenty, I've got whozits and whatist galore. Thingamabobs? I've got twenty. But who cares, no big deal......I want mooooooooore

Sorry, I couldn't help it. Lyrics from The Little Mermaid song "Part of Your World" in case you didn't catch that. Oh, that song is now in your head? You're welcome.

That is why I am giving this ol' life up, my collection ain't complete. I don't want stuff. I want adventure, I want to meet new interesting people, I want unforgettable experiences, I want challenge. I want more.

That is why we need to travel. If we don't offer ourselves to the unknown, our sense dull. Our world becomes small and we lose our sense of wonder. Our eyes don't lift to the horizon; our ears don't hear the sounds around us. The edge is off our experience, and we pass our days in a routine that is both comfortable and limiting. We wake up one day and find that we have lost our dreams in order to protect our days. Don't let yourself become one of these people. The fear of the unknown and the lure of the comfortable will conspire to keep you from taking the chances the traveler has to take. But if you take them, you will never regret your choice.  
- Sabrina Ward Harrison