After touring Europe and South Africa for the last 18 months, we will be heading over to South East Asia from Jul-Dec, before heading back home to Australia.
I am scared! Not because of the busy-ness of Asia (I lived in Beijing for a year!), but because of the heat and humidity, and to a somewhat lesser extent the languages. So that’s my push out of my comfort zone.
Recently someone who lived in Vietnam for many years said: just expect to get wet everyday, whether from sweat or rain, and then your mind has been tuned. Yikes!
Hi @botvot that’s a very apt comparison … and I completely agree having spent a number of years in that part of the world … hence the frequent use of “steaming”
We are in the process of continual downsizing and our longer range goal is to live part-time on a boat and part-time in a small house or apt. This fall we moved from a much larger house with two large garages and a full basement (in which a long married couple can store a LOT of stuff) to a two bdrm 1 ba cottage on the other side of the state. We still have storage units offsite and two workshops/sheds at our house, but everything is much smaller. Every week, I’m carting more stuff off to donation sites - Habitat for Humanity, hospital thrift store, animal welfare league thrift shop, etc. And we’re living with less clutter, day by day. This has been an enormous challenge for us, but especially hubby as he’s made a lifetime practice of saving items that can be recycled/repurposed, and he’s a “do-it-yourself-er.” I’m proud of him for recognizing the stuff that is weighing him down and taking precious time to manage for possible later use. We have multiple trips planned for the next two years, starting with next month’s meanderings through England.
@botvot, when I’ve faced the prospect of weather not to my liking, I just keep reminding myself “This too shall pass.” Living a nomadic lifestyle, I’ve really come to appreciate that saying!
It’s a saying I have learned to ground myself with.
Everything passes and when you let that sink in to the level of knowing, everything shifts into a new light and stuff becomes “ah no big deal”.
Stuff I’ve overcome is A LOT
It’s amazing what can be done when you just give it a shot.
A favorite quote for me is: No amount of anxiety makes a different outcome in the future.
That said, I can relate to the stories above about downsizing.
In 2022 I woke up with the idea ‘I go traveling’ so I sold my house and inventory, gave the rest away and only have a van ‘which is my home’ and a little storage for my music instruments and some personal belongings.
Did I hesitate? Not a second.
Because I knew, if I didn’t like traveling so much, I could reverse it.
Ok not in the same house, but all can be undone. It is just material stuff.
After 11 months I can say it’s the best decision I ever made. Don’t wanna go back to ‘the old’ for any amount.
The key was: my heart was pushing me this direction and I didn’t let my brain/anxiety get in the way.
Follow your heart. It already knows where you wanna go, only your brain still has to accept it
Thanks @Samox24
It is an incredible journey for sure. Many new opportunities and insights I never thought about before my trip.
I tell people who are like ‘Oh I want to do that also’ to go for it, make it a goal, it’s a great experience.
And if someone really wants, but doesn’t take the next step: ‘What is holding you?’
Simple question, but if someone can answer that for themselve, game is on
Yes! As someone with an engineering background, that has been a tough lesson for me to learn. One I’m still working on. The difference is, now it’s fun to catch myself and give my heart an opportunity to convince my brain to give whatever it is a try. So far, everything’s worked out better than I imagined it would.
Ah I can relate to that. I’m from a technical background also, so everything was decided by logic.
I think when I quitted my job as IT employee and started for myself. Then the 8-5, being productive, efficient scheme which was outlined by the organization was gone.
My days went the way how I felt was good. Everyday a bit more.
So kudos for you to give it a try and see it gives better results
And a habit which is learned in many years takes some time to be replaced.
But I’m sure you’ll get there!
As a 70 year old trans women, I don’t worry about the HO’s rejection as I don’t hide who I am and interviews typically reveal it. I just finished a sit in Puerto Rico and was a bit concerned about the reaction I might get but found again that no one cared. After 5 sits, I have reduced my fear greatly.
I have a new fear I haven’t overcome yet. A friend recently fell down some steps, requiring her to be hospitalized for weeks. She easily could have been paralyzed for the rest of her young life. I travel and sit solo when my husband’s away on tour. So now I worry about falling down stairs when I’m alone and unable to alert anyone (She wasn’t able to move on her own.)
I now use the handrail whenever I use stairs. I’m also looking into getting a wearable health device (ie Apple watch) that has fall detection capabilities. And I take stairs more slowly than I used to and am more aware of whether the treads might be slippery.
I haven’t overcome this fear yet, and I’m not sure I want to. Chances are slim I’d have the same accident she had, but I want to do what I can to learn from her situation and reduce the chances even more.
Gravity can be challenging. Perhaps you could change your sitter profile: “Will only sit in houses with an elevator.”
There’s also “Aversion Therapy;” If you’re afraid of heights, then go sky diving; Afraid of snakes? Then hold a snake. Maybe if you fell down, just a few steps, it may help.
Hahaha! I’ve done the aversion therapy thing for a fear of heights. In addition to sky diving, I got married on top of Half Dome (yes, where the arrow points!), have been hang gliding, flew in an ultralight over Victoria Falls, and much more.
I also had a fear of sharks . So for many years I worked as a volunteer diver in our local aquarium’s shark tank (with 12, 10-foot+ sharks), swam with Hammerheads and other sharks, and went shark diving with Great Whites in South Africa’s Shark Alley. I have also swum with piranhas and allowed tarantulas in the wild (not just the guy in the picture) to walk across my hands for good measure.
. So for many years I worked as a volunteer diver in our local aquarium’s shark tank (with 12, 10-foot+ sharks), swam with Hammerheads and other sharks, and went shark diving with Great Whites in South Africa’s Shark Alley. I have also swum with piranhas 
and allowed tarantulas in the wild (not just the guy in the picture) to walk across my hands for good measure.