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The Wonder Luster

For Those Of Us Whose Dreams Won't Die Between 17 and 65.

Life is wondrous! Feed your lust for life with the tools & inspiration to help make it a great one.

They Say Travel Changes You… Reflections On My First Trip Abroad

Travel | June 19, 2015

Everyone always says that traveling around the world changes them. After my first trip abroad, I can definitely see why. Here are some of my reflections.

I’ve read on travel blogs, that seeing the world changes you.  How could it not?  You set foot on soil and see a new place and people as a foreigner, to partake in the everyday reality, the mundane that they take in daily, but we ourselves have never seen.  On my cruise to Bermuda, I set sail with Holland America on my first big-girl cruise.  It would be a cruise I took by myself, embarking on the day I was supposed to be married, and also my the first usage of my passport.

Yes, you read that right. At 27 years old, I was about to get married, but I had never actually been to see a place that required a passport.  I was ready to embark on the ultimate plunge, but I had never played.  I was going to nest before I ever got a chance to fly.  At 28, I corrected these things, and I think my priorities are finally in order…I think I shall work on finding more opportunities to cultivate freedom and exploration in my life instead of resigning myself to settling down and shackling myself with the slow heaviness of ordinary living.  There are plenty of people who travel after they marry, or simply never have the desire- but for me, it seems that the window for adventure was closing and I had to make a correction.

For years, I surrounded myself with stuff- it weighed me down. I’d troll the Dollar Spot at Target, to stock up on things that added no real value, but added chaos and clutter to my life. I had many unbegun projects and unfinished intentions that clogged up my ability to explore.  For years, I was stern about staying out of debt, which I luckily have accomplished, but I feel that while that narrow and purposeful focus served a great purpose, it’s time to open up the aperture of my lens to see what else I can bring into frame.

Passport to Bermuda

My first passport stamp- ever.  Ya, pretty exciting for me..I’m a dork.

I’ll admit, cruising to Bermuda is not the most adventurous thing a girl can do.  I’m inspired by women who have forsaken the typical path and are seeing the world in a way that’s entirely their own. Solo female travelers like Adventurous Kate and the semi-sporadic nomads of the Local Adventurer blog fill up my RSS feeds and inspire me to see more of the world and see life as a grand adventure.

bAs I explored Bermuda, holding foreign currency in my hand and reminding myself that cars drive on the opposite side of the road, I recognized how vast the world was and how small my patterns, routines and locales were by comparison.  Bermuda is a great destination for anyone who wants to explore something out of the ordinary, that helps you flex your travel muscle, but doesn’t put you in an odd spot of learning a foreign language or trying to navigate a really complex transit system like you’d encounter in London or Tokyo. There’s like, one bus system and a ferry that gets you where you need to go on a rather small island, that I could handle!  I will have to learn how to be comfortable being uncomfortable, I feel like I’ve been very, very sheltered- there are so many known unknowns that I want to personally, and knowingly, be uncomfortable unfold.

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Many of us are shackled by something- nobody is completely free until they choose to be. For some of us, we were burdened by debt, burdened by relationships we feel stuck in, stuck in jobs we don’t like or we feel bored, lost and sometimes completely trapped.  For me, I feel that I’ve been confined to my own ignorance- there is so much I have to learn, feel, see, explore and capture.

I feel empowered by this recognition- I want to focus on photography, grow a business that will enable me to start and raise a family someday, and also learn how to get over that overwhelm that comes with travel.  There is a ton out there I don’t know and I’m kind of excited to admit I’m an idiot about the vastness of the world.  I still fear that my life will be confined to shopping trips to Target.  Not that I don’t love Target, but I’m worried that it will be routine again…shopping out of rote boredom.  Filling up spare bedrooms in the suburbs with stuff I don’t need.  I speculate about a future where I’ll get anchored down to some life I don’t identify with, filling up closets with craft projects in a house that’s way bigger than I need but mortgages are expected of us.  I fear that down that path, I’ll be working a job that I’m stuck with just to pay bills- only affording me a life of a consumer, not a producer.

Ya, travel changes you.

For me, it shakes me of my patterns.  It makes me question my choices.  It makes me wonder what kids have for breakfast in Brazil or what the sunset would look like in Jamaica, or if Aurora Borealis is just as amazing in person as it is as my desktop background.  I wonder if my future partner will help me explore, or slowly cajole me into what’s “expected,” instead of what’s interesting.  Will I stay curious when things need to get done, and bills need to be paid?

 

I’ll have a recap of my trip to Bermuda up soon…for now though, I’m just doing a lot of thinking over the weekend.  People don’t tell you that turning 30 makes you feel sort of lost, but it does.  I turn 29 this summer, is it time to retool how I’ve been doing things? Can I frugally live so I can see as much of the world as possible?  How will I balance my need to nest and my desire to fly?  I have plenty of thinking to do over the weekend.

 

Thanks for listening. 🙂 

Life is wondrous! Feed your lust for life with the tools & inspiration to help make it a great one.

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Some people just make the world a more vibrant pla Some people just make the world a more vibrant place, simply by being in it.  I can say that about these people- who make life more colorful, brighter and true just by being themselves. 

Grateful we could slow down to capture a little snippet in time for our family before we grow again. ❤️
IYKYK, bath time edition. 🛁. #bathtime #travelb IYKYK, bath time edition. 🛁. #bathtime #travelblogger #travel #familytravel #travellust
3 years since this photo was taken and my former k 3 years since this photo was taken and my former kidney became this guy's kidney. ❤️

I can say, I've grown to appreciate this moment a lot more as time has gone on.  It hasn't been an easy road for my recipient, he and his family have had a few health scares and ups and down, but I'm so grateful we are in each other's lives.

Chances are, you may know of someone in need of a kidney. 1 in 3 adults in the U.S., over 80 million people, are at risk for kidney disease.  While not every diagnosis leads to kidney failure, there are millions of people in this scary limbo hoping for good news.

I didn't know my recipient before this process started, but when I found I could live healthfully with one, I knew I had to try.  Donation is low-risk, my costs were generously covered by my recipient (both through insurance and the kindness of others) and I was back at work in 4 weeks.  Needless to say, it was easier than birthing a baby.

Candidates for kidney donation are thoroughly vetted to ensure the surgery, and life with one kidney are a good fit.  Trust me, your team will not ask you to donate if you have any risk factor of being in need of a transplant yourself down the road.  Testing took months and was incredibly thorough.  Your remaining kidney can do the job of two, and my kidney levels are normal and healthy 3 years later.

Even if you don't personally know someone who needs a kidney, please consider living kidney donation.  You can anonymously donate, be paired through a registry or find someone on social media who is in need, like I did.  There are literally thousands of people using Instagram and Facebook to try and someone who is even willing to get the basic tests.  You could be their person.  Have questions? I’m here for you! 

Being a living kidney donor absolutely enriched my life beyond imagination and has blessed my little family with a beautiful extended family to celebrate with.  Grateful for this day.
Life’s moments are made better with our pets. ❤️

Joey had been with us for nearly 4 years, made possible by the kind folks of South Texas Boston Terrier Rescue. I picked him up, intending on fostering him for a few weeks and ended up falling in love with his sweet spirit, exuberance for anything food related and his lovable derpiness.

Previously, he was kept in a small cage with two other terriers, all day every day and used as a stud. When he was no longer profitable, he, like plenty of others, was surrendered to rescue.  He was blind in one eye, needed teeth extracted and had skin lesions from life in a cage. 

Life hadn’t been easy for him, but I’m glad a rescue was there to give him a second chance, and they trusted me to give in his second chapter.  He was a well travelled dog and he was the Best Pup on our wedding day in Marfa.  Last night we said goodbye. Hubs and I will miss him dearly, but savor the moments and adventures with our little tank. 

Adopt, don’t shop.  Support your local rescues and give your fur kids an extra squeeze for Joey tonight.
“Is this enough for you?” My husband has asked “Is this enough for you?” My husband has asked me this before. To which, I answer- life is full, wonderful, and I am grateful. 

I believe he asks because before kids, I had a very different lifestyle. I traveled to Europe by myself, started businesses, donated a kidney, ran half marathons, got my master’s degree.  I lived a full life, then too. I was fiercely independent because I had to be.

I’m still that person, but fortunately I have more people to share it with. I also have to be more vulnerable than ever.

I had years to find myself and don’t plan on losing that woman I forged. Being a mom has also helped me heal some of the hard parts of the experience I had with my own mom. (I didn’t see that last part coming.)

Being a mom can make you lose yourself.  For me, it’s helped me discover myself once more. Grateful for this day and so many days - I’m just happy to be here. 

Happy Mother’s Day everyone. I hope you discover yourself, heal what you need and feel the love today and everyday.

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