After 8 months of being on the road, my vision for what I will share with the world is becoming clearer. I finally feel like I really can accomplish anything. After months of knowing that we are on the right path, but having nothing really feel like it is presenting itself, I finally feel like there is a plan. Not a contrived plan, but a plan that is unfolding day by day. Moment by moment, my clarity is renewed. Second by second I am stepping back into my shoes. The ones that I lost so many years ago.
I became lost in this life. I tried my hardest to do what was expected of me. I got married, I went to college, I bought a house, I started a business. I spent every waking moment trying to show the world that I could do it too. I could fit in. I tried with such gusto that I likely was on the brink of a mental and emotional collapse, if I didn’t make some changes.
At the age of 40 I started to put the pieces together. I could feel it building about a year in advance of it’s arrival. Something was eating me alive inside and I knew that something huge was about to come, I just didn’t know what. I said many times to Chris that I was really excited about our future. I don’t know how I knew, but I did. I didn’t know what it was going to look like, I just had this feeling, a churning in my gut that 40 would be a big year for me. A year of change, a year of finally getting back to doing what was important in my life.
Upon watching the Minimalism documentary on January 11th, 2017, I had a lightening bolt moment that suddenly flipped everything that I knew on it’s head. The reason I hadn’t been travelling, I realized, was because I was filling my life with so much stuff. I had a house and believe me it was FULL. In that split second instant, I knew that it all needed to go if I was ever going to live my dream.
It was a dream that I really didn’t even know existed. I mean, I always looked up to people who lived on the road, didn’t have a home base and just moved around freely through life. But surely, I could never do that. I didn’t have the resources to make something like that work. I had resigned myself to just being an frequent traveller, going out as much as I could. You see, I always had a house to return to, a business to run, things to manage and take care of. I had to go back to continue being part of the cog in the wheel. Each and every trip I knew this, and I feel like it even possibly affected my overall enjoyment of my travelling as well.
When I realized that if I got rid of everything, then I could REALLY be free, it was an intense moment. It literally felt like a lightening bolt zapped me in the back of the head. In that instant, everything became clear. I almost laughed at the hilariousness of it all. I complained day in and day out about not being able to travel (usually to myself in my own head), yet I bought more and more things, I pulled parts of my house apart, I started numerous projects without finishing them, al the while stacking mountains on top of myself, mountains that I would later have to climb to get out of the mess I had found myself in.
And now, here we are. We made a decision and in 9 short months, we made it happen. We couldn’t be more thrilled to be living this life we are living. Every day is an unexpected adventure. Even on days when we are not even outside adventuring. The point is that our life has become an adventure. We now have time to read articles, research things that are important to us, learn and get inspired. We are fine tuning our direction and where we want to go, bit by bit, moment by moment and it’s an exhilarating feeling!
In fact, I plan to write a book about my experience, a book that will show others that they too can achieve this life. Because if we can, I can promise you that ANYONE can!
I hope you are able to follow us along on our journey as we unfold our paths. Any amount you are able to contribute to our Patreon account will help us to continue in creating content and inspiring others to make their own changes in life.
But please know that above all else, I aim to inspire others to just get out and see the world. Traveling is such an enriching experience, and I can’t even comprehend how much it has shaped me as an individual. If you have ANY questions, or need travel advice of ANY kind, PLEASE don’t hesitate to reach out to me in one of my social links or by emailing me at jill@justsomewandering.com. I will do my very best to help you in any way that I can!
Thank you so much for your support!
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Just Some Wandering 