The Magic of Pursuing Your Passions Through Travel
Loch Lomond, Scotland - @carryonbagsonly_
The Magic of Travel!
There is something magical about travel itself, which if you are curious, you can hear more about the magic of pursuing your passions through travel in the first season of the Carry-On Bags Only Podcast. The episode is linked below and available on various streaming platforms. I wanted to take this opportunity to share some of the articles that inspired me to get out traveling to discover my passions and life purpose. I encourage you to seek out adventures that will feed your soul or allow you to reflect back on memorable trips that ignited a fire in you. Do you know anyone who is lacking a bit of magic in their day to day? If you know of someone who is feeling lost or needing a bit of motivation to discover themselves, please share this post with them!
During the Pursuing Your Passions Through Travel episode, my podcast guest Justin and I chatted about the life changing trips we took and the positive impact they had on us, including what we learned even when things didn’t go as planned. Even though the two of us went on completely different adventures, we both recognized the similarities we experienced. Justin’s passion for The Lord of the Rings took him down to New Zealand and my desire to do something completely out of my comfort zone had taken me over seas to Scotland to pursue an adventure race I found in a Red Bull article, How to Have an Adventure in Two Weeks or Less - 7 adventures you can fit into a two-week holiday.
Lost & Found
I know what you might be thinking, what made her decide to do an adventure enclosed in a Red Bull article!? Something called the big three-o made me do it or perhaps a quarter life crisis. My thirtieth birthday is to blame or to thank...I remember feeling a bit lost and uninspired at that time, I was really not happy with where my life was at and I figured I would’ve been in a completely different spot feeling fulfilled, following a life purpose. I made the tough decision to pack my bags and move back to my hometown after living in a different city for about four years. I was in a job I disliked, that was not paying enough for me to sustain my unrealistic lifestyle and it equally wasn’t filling up my soul. I am so grateful to my good friend who sent me a link to this article that I to this day, still refer back to. It is a positive reminder of why we must get out of our comfort zones and discover ourselves. The article, How to Find Yourself, When You’ve Lost Yourself, by Rebecca Lammersen featured in HuffPost honestly changed my life for the better. I encourage you to check it out if you are looking for an inspiring read, it may trigger you to also find a Red Bull article that gives you metaphoric “wings” to get out and travel!
“The stagnancy of my life was destroying my spirit. I was no longer myself, and I knew the journey from where I was back to my home was going to be a scary uncertain one, but at some point I had no choice. I couldn’t live separate from myself anymore, so I started walking without any idea where I was going”
I took the advice from the article to discover my life purpose, I set out and did something opposite to what I was doing in that moment. I got uneasy, I got scared, and on countless occasions I have become a beginner again and learned something I knew nothing about (participating in adventure races, building a travel blog, moving into a role in environmental sustainability etc.) and I found out a lot about myself through this process. It still took me a couple years to really figure out my purpose, but I can for sure say that the traveling I did between my thirtieth birthday until this point offered some unique self discovery. You are sometimes placed in foreign situations when you travel, which Rebecca also mentions that “you will bump into yourself in the unfamiliar.” I agree that it is often a journey that you have to do on your own and if you haven’t already clicked the link to read the article I highly recommend that you go back and check it out to understand what I mean by that. Below is a picture taken from another adventure race I completed in the UK. I am so grateful that the epiphany I had after my birthday completely pushed me out of my comfort zone in a good way and allowed me to discover my passion for outdoor adventure races.
Exmoor National Park, United Kingdom - @carryonbagsonly_
Finding Purpose, Again!
This brings me to the next article that also really resonated with me which is, 7 Strange Questions That help You Find Your Life Purpose written by Mark Manson. I wasn’t one of those people that knew at a young age what they wanted to be when they grew up. It took me a couple years after high-school to figure out where I wanted to go next. A professor in one of my post secondary event planning courses pulled me aside and said that I should consider event planning as a career after my work completed on a project. She noticed my attention to detail and creativity, and to be honest, I hadn’t really thought of pursuing “events” as a career. That moment shaped my life, as the teacher saw something in me that I didn’t even recognize in myself. Although after my schooling, I could never seem to land a full-time role in event planning so I eventually gave up and took a job in customer service, which I did for three years. After moving back to my hometown, I got myself sorted both mentally, financially and even discovered some passions outside of work through travel. Then that is when an opportunity finally presented itself, my dream job opened up at a company in Toronto! The only caveat was, I had to move across the country to a new city, which I was a bit nervous to do as I didn’t want a repeat of my last experience. I absolutely loved the role for the first two years and then I slowly found myself starting to feel uninspired again and questioning if this was really my life purpose. I found myself again typing into search engines desperately hoping maybe even a BuzzFeed quiz on “What Kind of Potato Are You?” could provide some sort of insight (incase you are wondering, I am a mashed potato: down-to-earth and very low-key). I eventually came across the article from Mark Manson, the blunt, straight forward, and brutally honest advice he gives is exactly what I needed to hear.
“You’re not going to fix the world’s problems by yourself. But you can contribute and make a difference. And that feeling of making a difference is ultimately what’s most important for your own happiness and fulfillment.”
I took Mark’s advice, I found an issue I care about, which is protecting the environment. I found a way to bridge my love for travel with sustainability. I started to get more involved in environmental related projects at work and was eventually promoted into a full-time role in Corporate Social Responsibility & Environmental Sustainability. Another personal goal of mine includes running a half marathon on the seven continents, while also raising awareness to keep our beaches and oceans litter free. Now I am not going to be able to fix the worlds problems on my own, if you are interested, you can join me and the Carry-On Bags Only community to make a positive impact by becoming more sustainable while traveling. I hope to educate, encourage, and inspire you to get outside and see the world by traveling light! If you do find yourself going on a no checked bags adventure, be sure to tag your travels on Instagram using the #carryonbagsonly hashtag. I hope by sharing this story and these articles that it will help empower people to discover the magic of travel or find purpose through self discovery as well.