Being Lost to Find Myself
Tale of a Solo Traveler
Age brings wisdom through the multitude of experiences. Through the good times and definitely through our mistakes, we learn and define ourselves. In the comfort of our home and our familiar environment, we find strength in knowing our abilities. But, how would you react to challenges when you’re out of your environment? They say “in order to truly measure yourself, you need to take yourself out of your comfort zone.” On December of 2010, I embarked on my first solo international trip to Belize. I spent time in the interior of the country in a small town, San Ignacio, in the middle of the rainforest.
In an unfamiliar place, in a truly foreign environment,… I found myself.
This wasn’t the purpose of my holiday but a byproduct of my itch for travel and exploration. I was tired of waiting for others to get there lives together. I found the strength and the confidence to handle the challenges that came my way.
I fully embraced losing myself in order to find my true self.
Don’t get me wrong, I had confidence and strength to function in the complicated life we live in before I landed in Belize. What I did bring back bring back was a higher level of confidence. I learned I could adapt to extreme environments and handle all the challenges and missteps. Just imagine being in a foreign country and not having anyone to support you, to advise you as you would back home.
Solo travel is a life of self discovery and has allowed me to challenge myself and find a better understanding of my true self along with a better respect for the world and everything in it. There’s very little in life that can truly make you feel as independent and free as traveling alone. It will test your patience, your will, and your inner strength. Unfortunately, it hasn’t cured my fear of public speaking.
Safe travels and may you find your true self!
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Gorgeous pictures, and bravo for having the courage to travel solo 🙂
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Thanks, it’s gotten easier over time and in some ways I prefer traveling solo.
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#UPUPUP! #PicturesShot #PhotographerInTheBuilding! #TooHotToHandle #BelizeStandUp
–Blessings
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Thanks! ✌
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You’re inspiring! 👍
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I have my moments, thanks! 🙂
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Well, you’ve become one more follow closer to 1500. I agree with you here, solo travel is formative for the personality. I’m only 20, and probably pretty naive, but I know enough to know to agree wholeheartedly with the theme of this post.
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Thank you, and thanks for the follow.
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Haha, I hate public speaking too! I’m nervous about solo travelling, but I totally want to do it one day, how long was your trip to Belize? Did you ease into solo travelling by starting with a week or jump straight into a month? 😮
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Belize was only 1 week so I started with a short 1 week holiday. I can’t do 1 month holidays and still keep my job here in the US.
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Ohh I see! That sounds like a good amount of time to start solo travelling, some people jump into a month and seems so daunting!
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It does, I would recommend a shorter time to see if solo travel is really what you want to do.
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Definitely!
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