Eat, Sleep, and Dream Travel

Looking back through my memory to unravel how I got here, to this moment, is a daunting task. From the day I became determined to change my life and climb out of the dreary rut I was stuck in, to the instant I read about the World Nomads scholarship, I have been adjusting and transforming. When I think about it, it didn’t take much for me to get here. Maybe a bit of persistence and some naivety, sprinkled with passion and stubbornness. And yet, it seems like so much has happened in the past 365 days, or so...
You could say that I was on same road as most young Americans; degree, marriage, career, children. At one point, that was my dream. Then, suddenly, it became a tedious nightmare. I found myself straying from school and spending hours distracted by dreams of mysterious places and new experiences. I was no longer the girl who sought domestic bliss, my mind and my heart had evolved to desire new things. I began doubting all the things I had based my aspirations on for years. Eventually, I was fed up. Why couldn’t I ever take a risk? Why did I always play it safe? What was there to lose, money? So what. There was much more to be gained.
One major decision later, I was lost again. Sure, I could drop out of school, that was easy. The hard part was finding a way to travel the world with no money and, let’s be honest, few marketable skills. I was just starting to lose hope when I got the idea to become a certified English teacher. I did some googling and applied to a TEFL program in Florence, and voila, I had a plan. I would fly off to Italy and get certified, then get a job in Rome and live with my best friend while she studied abroad. It was a wonderful plan, until it fell apart. My sister got engaged and asked me to be maid of honor, and I had to accept. That meant I had only about 8 months to travel, so I said goodbye (for now) to my dreams of indefinite vagabonding.
In the end, it all came together in a whirlwind of new love and culminating desires, and my boyfriend of about three months decided he would join me on a backpacking escapade for two. And now, here I am, in a small village in Bulgaria after seven months of traveling around Europe, and I find my mind swimming more than ever. I keep coming back to the idea of inspiration; the people, places, and experiences that have inspired me, and how I can translate my thoughts and knowledge into a guiding light for other people.