Fear is only temporary. Regrets last forever.” -John Berryman
Second Thoughts
Recently I have found myself in a state of mixed emotions about traveling with my family. While I had been listening to podcasts on family travel I was getting really inspired. It felt like something the four of us could definitely do. Now, I have been feeling anxious about it.
The realization my son, Vincent, will be starting high school when we start our journey set in. Will I be hurting his chances of getting into college? How will I keep up with his academic needs? He is in advanced math, loves science, and enjoys school. He has assured me he would love to travel and does not mind not attending an actual brick-and-mortar school.
Do We Have To Sell Everything
My younger son, Vallen, will be 6 years old when we begin our journey. He has seen me selling everything in the house. My husband and I set out our holiday Christmas train in the living room to snap photos for posting it on eBay.
Vallen says to me, “I don’t want to sell the train, I want to keep the train!”
“If you sell things, you can always buy something else that you want instead,” I replied.
“No, I want to buy the things, and then keep the things,” he retorted in his little man voice. In his favor, we have been donating and selling a lot of things in garage sales. Things he didn’t play with much seem to be greatly missed.
I felt terrible about that. Then it dawned on me. When Vincent was his age, we moved at least 10 times. We lived throughout Southern California. Then to New Jersey. We stayed in different towns around New Jersey, before moving back to Southern California. We moved three more times before buying our home. At that time, we gave birth to our little Vallen, who has for almost all his life, lived in our current home.
Vallen is in a completely different mindset than Vincent, who is very used to moving, traveling, and selling things. When Vincent was 5 years old, we lost a whole house full of things during the East Coast’s Hurricane Irene. Vincent is a trooper and used to that lifestyle. Vallen did not grow up that way.
Counting Down The Days
So here we are, about 10 months away from our nomadic lifestyle transition. I am tearing up thinking about it. Just feeling overwhelmed and sentimental about our house, friends, community, and life here. This is something I have wanted to do for years, but never dreamed I would actually be pursuing it and making it happen.
We are still working out the kinks in making money, but my husband works completely digital, so we know we can keep the money coming. It is just a matter of aligning all our pieces right.
I have been pursuing my copy and travel writing in the hopes of making an income to help support our dream.
Fear of Traveling
Maybe it is the fear of traveling, planning, visas, language barrier, metric system, income, accommodations, exchange rates, insurance, ok let me stop there-ahhhhhhh!
Could I go on? Of course, I could, but that would be quite unproductive. What awaits are beautiful places, cultures, people, food, history, and lifestyles.
Let It Go
There are two choices: do it or don’t do it. For our situation, we are drowning in mortgage, car, and health insurance payments. We would have to sell our house and our car anyway. We are canceling our health insurance to get a cheaper policy. There is no better time. We can spend all of our money on those things, or we can get busy living and having fun traveling as a family.
“We must travel in the direction of our fear.” -John Berryman
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