I remember walking into the airport at midnight, color blocked in neon wearing hiking boots and a yellow fanny pack with a smile that could have lit the runway. I was on my way to Costa Rica for the first time.
Little did I know when I stepped onto the plane, that I had made a decision that would alter the course of my life.
Back then I had barely even traveled and certainly did not consider myself “nomad” material. I had the money and the two-week vacation allowances like most 9-5ers in the United States, but travel was not high on my list of priorities.
I was far more interested in decorating the most fabulous apartment, throwing the perfect dinner party, and finding the perfect boyfriend than I was in sleeping in hostels, eating street food, and spending hours by myself in nature.
I worked in an office as a Project Manager, went to trendy cocktail bars with my friends almost every night, spent hundreds of dollars on clothes per month, and I always found myself in a committed relationship with a guy.
So what changed? Why did I, someone who never studied languages in school and has always had a fear of flying, put all of her belongings in storage, hand over the keys to her apartment, and step onto a red eye flight to Costa Rica?
Because something had to give.
Leaving behind my life as I knew it wasn’t that hard because that life had never really made me happy. I constantly battled with anxiety, never exercised or practiced yoga, rarely did things to take care of myself, and I didn’t have a clue how to relax.
Like most people I know, I was working a job that didn’t fulfill me. I had taken the traditional route when I graduated from high school, and went to university not really knowing what I wanted to do with my life. That’s what everyone else was doing, and consequently what I thought I was supposed to be doing as well.
I knew the things I loved to do. I loved to design and make beautiful things, I loved to perform in musical theater, I loved to write poetry and stories, I loved to cook and throw parties for friends, but none of those things were practical. None of those things would ever make me money, I thought. So I pursued Marketing, a career that seemed like the most creative and artistic of all of my boring options.
The summer I graduated from University was also the summer of the financial crisis in the United States. Companies crumbled like pyramids made out of sand, millions went bankrupt, and I had done my internship at Washington Mutual (considered the largest bank failure in American history).
I applied for hundreds of jobs before I finally received an offer working for an Internet Marketing company. It wasn’t the glamorous “Mad Men” career I had envisioned, but it paid my bills.
As comfortable as it became to show up to the office Monday through Friday, make a good salary, and live for the weekends, I’ve always had a strong passion and drive, and I knew there had to be more for me out there. I just didn’t exactly know what.
Interior Design had been a hobby of mine when I was in college, and while working my Marketing job, I managed to find time to get a gig working as an assistant to a top Interior Designer in Seattle. It didn’t take long before I had my own clients and even worked on a high-end restaurant.
I often talked about going back to school to get my degree in Interior Design, but I was way too comfortable, and way too scared to take the plunge.
Then the universe pushed me into the deep end.
After working for two years at my first job out of college, I went to work for a small web start up. There, I met my friend Andie Mitchell, who worked as a social media expert and had her own food blog Can You Stay for Dinner.
That job only lasted a few months. Long story short, the company’s traffic was majorly hit and they had to completely shut down operations. I didn’t have a job anymore.
Fortunately, I quickly picked up another gig working for a different web startup with a friend I had known for years. The salary was double what I had been making and I had the chance to invest in a company that would reward me with big returns. My dream of going back to school went even further on the back burner.
I worked long days and weekends, attended daily meetings, answered to five different bosses, stayed out late partying with investors, and put all of my energy into that job.
Once again, just a few months in, I lost my job. This time, with no explanation and no warning. “We decided we don’t need you anymore,” was what I got.
That afternoon, drunk at the bar with my friends, I declared that I would never work for someone else ever again. So I picked up a restaurant job to pay the bills and decided to finally take the plunge and apply to get my Master’s Degree in Interior Design for the next Fall term.
Over the six months while all of this had been going on, I was also dealing with extremely intense heartbreak. Around the time when I lost the first job, I had also broken up with my boyfriend. Our relationship had ended but we’d still see each other and have moments where we pretended nothing had actually changed. It was a complete mind fuck and emotionally exhausted me.
I had been in that relationship for nearly three years, immediately after I had ended a four-year relationship with someone else. Sleeping alone felt strange to me and I couldn’t really fathom the thought of not having a man by my side.
The relationship had never been stable and in the three years we were together we must have broken up and gotten back together at least ten times. He is a wonderful person who I still love dearly, but I’ve ever felt so lonely or insecure as I did in that relationship. Instead of get out, I tried to do everything in my power to make it better. I recall thinking that if I could channel that level of energy into something productive, I could seriously change the world.
The endless cycle of breaking up and getting back together felt like a horrific merry-go-round I was destined to ride forever. I knew I had to break it but I didn’t feel strong enough.
When my friend Andie, the blogger I met back at that small Internet start up, told me she was leaving to spend two months in Costa Rica, I saw my way out. She had just gotten a major book deal with Random House to write her memoir (which is now an Amazon top 10 best seller I might add) and wanted to escape to a beach somewhere.
I decided to go with her with two goals in mind: to finish my graduate school applications and to finally learn how to relax. I even packed a book called “Learn to Relax” that had sat on my bookshelf for years. I didn’t read it in Costa Rica, but I most certainly did learn to relax.
To my surprise, it wasn’t all hibiscus flowers and sunshine.
For the first time in my life, I truly discovered what it meant to be alone. Our cabin sat in the remote jungle with no bars, no shops, no restaurants, no wifi, and no other people. The distractions I had used my entire life to avoid being alone no longer existed. Plus, Costa Rica was more expensive than I anticipated and I didn’t have much money saved. The first week I actually considered flying home.
Though the beauty and the serenity of Costa Rica quickly worked its magic. I began to surrender to my surroundings.
I walked for hours down the wild jungle beaches, sat and watched the sunset every evening, swam in the Caribbean ocean like a mermaid, read books just for the pleasure of it, barely ever opened up my computer, danced with reckless abandon in bars I would have once turned my nose up at, had an exciting love affair with a gorgeous local surfer (which did turn out to be a total disaster), and found myself happier than I had ever been in my entire life.
I realized I had everything I needed from the sun, the sand, the sea, and most importantly, from within myself. I felt completely content.
I began to reconsider going back to school. I wondered if I even gave a crap anymore about designer bathroom tile or paint swatches. I was starting to really like being somewhere taken over by the jungle instead of designed by the hand of man.
But I didn’t believe that Costa Rica was real life. I didn’t know anyone who was actually sustaining a life like that. I thought that pursuing that life further was an unrealistic fantasy.
The last day before I flew home my Mom wrote me that I had been accepted into the best schools in the country. One of which was Pratt in Brooklyn, a school I had always dreamed of studying at.
Culture shock hit me hard when I returned to Seattle. I didn’t relate to my friends anymore and I couldn’t understand the purpose of things like phones, cars, and jobs. Still, I didn’t believe that going back to Costa Rica was realistic, so I prepared to move to New York and study design.
Yet rather than research housing in Brooklyn or register for courses that fall, I stayed up late reading my Lonely Planet guides and travel blogs. School had not even begun and I was already planning which tropical countries I would backpack through on my breaks.
Knowing I wouldn’t need any of it in New York, I sold all of my furniture that was in storage and I sold my car. I worked my ass off waiting tables and doing Interior Design consults. In two months I managed to get about $20,000 in the bank and flew to New York with a one-way ticket.
My first day in New York I knew it was a no go. Pratt felt like a prison and I asked myself why I would spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on an education that I wasn’t even sure that I wanted, in a place that I didn’t want to live in.
Instead, I went to go travel more in hopes of finding myself. I knew I had until the fall to decide on school, so I took advantage of my freedom. I traveled with my friend Andie down through Mexico, Belize, and back to Costa Rica. When she went back to the states I stayed behind in Costa Rica. This is when I really opened my eyes to the idea that I could travel on my own. I began to recognize that perhaps this lifestyle suited me better than the one I had always thought I was meant to live.
For the year that followed I continued to travel, to Europe, Morocco, Nicaragua, Panama, and Costa Rica again. I kept thinking that I would get over the travel bug and eventually come to my senses. That never happened. Finally I realized that I was never going back to school for the simple fact that I was incapable of doing anything with my life other than travel the world. I loved traveling so much that doing anything else simply was not an option anymore.
I still haven’t forgotten that day, two years ago, when I wrote in my journal, “I’m willing to do whatever it takes to make this life possible.” Because there was no other option anymore.
Since then, I’ve backpacked on my own through Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Scandinavia, Western Europe, and Morocco, become a certified yoga teacher, established a home for myself in Costa Rica, started a popular travel blog, earned a living on the road, made hundreds of friends across the world, found a tribe of people who speak the language of my heart, and discovered that all of my dreams are possible if I believe in them.
Losing my job and my boyfriend, and having a friend tell me she was headed to Costa Rica, may have been the catalysts that led me to leave my old life behind. But that’s not why I left my fancy city life to become a globetrotting gypsy.
I left because of the tiny hope within me for something better.
The small belief that despite how I had felt for most of my life, I was capable of attaining happiness. Happiness that extended beyond a fun night out with friends or the early butterflies of a new relationship. Happiness that extended beyond the instant gratification of a new outfit or a scoop of Ben and Jerry’s ice cream. Happiness that was more than a promotion or a paycheck. Happiness that came from a deep place within me. Happiness that could only come as a result of truly living my life’s purpose.
I chose that happiness and I will follow it wherever it tells me to go, for as long as I live on this planet.
Will you?
Create your own life changing trip to Costa Rica. My eBook, The Ultimate Guide to Costa Rica will show you how!
Thank you for sharing – this is such an inspirational story, and I can relate to many aspects of it! This sentence resonates so deeply with me: “I loved traveling so much that doing anything else simply was not an option anymore.”
Thank you Ashley <3 <3 <3
Very nice journey, I think of doing that all the time. A really interesting story of yours.
Best wishes to you and happy traveling to you.
Suzette
I love this post. It speaks to me so completely, except that I DID go back to school and DID pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to get an advanced degree (in NYC) that I thought I should want – that I thought would lead to a life that should make me happy. Guess what? It didn’t work and I have impressive student loan debt.
But it’s ok, because it’s never too late to be what you might have been, right? I’m in my 30’s. By now I SHOULD have things settled: a good job, a family, a home, right? The problem is, that’s not what I want! So, as difficult as it is to silence the voices of doubt (and sometimes well-meaning friends), I’m going to do it. Because I have to. Because, like you, it’s no longer a choice. I started my blog late last year after a trip to South America reminded me of who I really am.
I applaud you for listening to yourself. I wish I had done so long ago, but that was not my path. Keep posting and I’ll keep reading. Perhaps I’ll see you on the beach one day. I’ll be the one with the ridiculous grin on my face.
Ahhh Jen thanks for your comment. And I totally hear you. When I meet people who are 18 already traveling the world and figuring out what they want to do sometimes I think “damn, I wish I had done that at your age!” but like you pointed out, that wasn’t my path. We all have the experiences that our consciousness needs to expand in any given moment. We choose how long we stay “stuck” in those experiences. Sounds like you’re on the path to breaking free 🙂
While I don’t feel like I “choose” to get stuck in that/this experience, I also didn’t “choose” to plan a way out until now. And that’s basically the same thing. Status quo is my biggest fear and one I’ve been living for too long. Well said, Camille. 🙂
🙂
Camille I love this! Such a beautiful story and I’m so glad you shared this part of your life in more depth with us 🙂 It just dawned on me while reading this how much you and your blog has inspired me to follow my path into ‘doing whatever it takes’ to live the life I want to live.
Also, I’m planning on embarking on a new journey this autumn down to Mexico/Central America and I haven’t felt my heart pulled in a direction so hard in a really long time. So thanks for providing some reassurance!
xx
Aw thank you Mariana!! Awesome that you’ve got a trip coming up, it sounds epic and I look forward to hearing all about it 🙂
This is very powerful, but the most powerful part is the bit about NYC. I am a little jealous that you realized so quickly that NYC and Pratt weren’t for you. I moved there right out of college for a job, and knew within a few weeks that I couldn’t be there forever. And I stayed for two and a half years, before my anxiety was at a constant high and I would break down in public. Now, in California, I’ve rediscovered the outdoors and found that I feel most at home surrounded by the natural world, instead of one manufactured by us.
We all have our own path to take, and we have to remember to always listen to those little nagging thoughts in our head that tell us we are not on the right path.
Absolutely! I’m so glad to hear that you found your happiness and freedom and are following that. It’s a hard lesson that many of us learn, but the more we share our story, the more we can inspire others to have the bravery to look inward at our resistance to the “box” and to step out of it. <3 <3 <3
I love this story – I’ve been following Andie for years and found you on Instagram. I love that you are living the life you want!
Thanks Biz 🙂 <3
Beautiful story 🙂 educational also. Not to let go of dreams. Someone wrote this: “Surrendering doesn´t mean to be passive, it means to be open”. And you are, that is why I follow your journey.
Still i´ll say that someone needs to keep society running and do all work in there, or is it really necessary to keep this consuming society running? I think its difficult question and it would need a revolution in thinking, revolution inside of humanity.
Beautiful quote, I love it. Thanks always for your thoughtful comments. Such a good point, do we actually need mailmen and bank tellers, etc etc I’m not entirely sure. What I do know is that I’d rather have a life of freedom in nature than efficiency and buses that run on time.
Camille – I really do believe in fate. I stumbled upon Andie’s blog a few years ago, and per her recommendation, stumbled upon yours. I traveled to Europe for the first time this year and fell in love. Whilst I am currently surrounded by textbooks and fellow classmates popping zannies to keep going, your story always remains in the back of my head. I think the reason why people (including myself) find you so inspiring is because you’ve done the one thing many of us feel as though we cannot do: take a risk. Leave it all behind. Live freely without the worry of what others may think. Thank you thank you thank you to wherever you are in the world, can’t wait to hear what comes next.
Ah Laine thank you thank you thank you for this comment. The first step in doing what we feel we cannot do is shifting our thoughts to believe that we can do it. What is your wildest dream? When you wake up in the morning and before you go to bed at night, visualize yourself doing it. Then sit and meditate on the mantra “I can do this” or “I am possible” or “I believe that everything is possible.” Whatever resonates with you. I’m going to be writing LOTS of guides over the next couple of months to help you guys figure out what your dreams are, how to follow them, and how to design a life around what you love. Up next, Costa Rica to relax and be with my friends, and preparing for another big adventure 🙂
Thank you for sharing your story! For showing that it’s possible, it’s really possible to live the way we want.
Youre welcome 🙂 xoxo
I’ve only been back just over a month and I still can’t stop reading travel blogs, I miss it so much! My plan is if I can’t get a degree job within 5/6 months or so I’ll save from my waitressing job and what I had left and leave again 🙂
Keep following your dreams and they will happen <3 xoxo
Your story really touched me. You were like a flower opening, and when you were centered surrounded by the most beautiful nature in the world you were then able to realize your true calling. I too will be living in C R soon and when I’m there it feels more like home than home feels like home. As you know the CR energy allows us creative types and in tuned types to max out our full potential. When I’m in MA and Uvita and Dominical my spirit rides a magic carpet of Universal flow. It’s the ultimate lifestyle. All I need is an ocean, a rainforest, organic food, my dogs and an early morning hike to a waterfall…………… Anything else is just noise.
I know exactly what you mean!! 🙂
I literally have tears in my eyes. This was so beautiful and inspiring. It IS hard to believe you’re capable of making a life doing what you want when you don’t know anyone else who’s living that way. But it sounds like you found something to pursue that was finally representative of your true self. Giving up on it would have meant giving up on yourself. So beautiful. Namaste.
Amazing! All the bad luck there must have pushed you, and that’s why everything in life happens for a reason. Thanks for not sparing any detail, it’s making following you more personal and I appreciate all of your posts, Camille! So glad we realized our lives were meant to be on the road 🙂 After Aus I’m of to C and S America, I’ll be looking up all of your recommendations. Good luck <3
Awesome!! Just let me know 🙂
I love this! Well written and I feel like so many girls are able to relate to this.
Thank you <3
Thanks for letting us into this personal place. I liked hearing about the “old you” who couldn’t relax and didn’t practice yoga – it’s fun to see how you’ve grown. Travel (and living in other countries) changes us in ways that we can’t quite fathom until it happens. As always, a beautifully-written piece that will resonate with many 🙂
Thank you so much Katie, glad you enjoyed it 🙂
I feel like we need to see some photos of “old” Camille…
Ha SUCH a good point!! Ok I will have to dig some up.
Every butterfly needs a cacoon, and your city life was just that xo
xx
Didnt know that you had that hard times back then!
Travel have that power to change someone’s life. It sure did changed mine too!
Thankyou for sharing your stories!! A very inspiring one!
You’re so welcome, and yes travel is one of the most transformational experiences we can have 🙂
Hi Camille
I discovered your blog a few hours ago and i have to honestly say that im addicted! I love the way you write and i feel very related with your words and thoughts.
As well as you I worked as a project manager in the IT industries for 4 years and im now working as an IT-Supporter(which sucks so bad).
In the last year i got unhappier from day today. I was not happy with my 9-5 job, not happy with my flat and overall not happy with myself and the live im living. I have the fortune that i have a a hobby, skydiving, and a strong family which gives me a lot of power and supports me no matther what i do (mental-whise).
Long story short: I quit my job, quit my flat, booked some flights and i’m now selling my stuff! I’m leaving my countring in october. Im planing to travel at least 7 months (or as long as i’ve got money) to reset my mind, bring back power in my body and then start skydiving all day long. I want to do what i love the most: traveling & skydiving!
Dear camille thanks again for your inspiring blog i wish you a lot of love, peace and happiness!
That is SO awesome, thank you for sharing your very inspirational story. I couldn’t be more excited for you, and I’m positively honored that you enjoy my blog 🙂 Amazing travels and please let us know how it all goes!
OMG. This!! “Happiness that extended beyond a fun night out with friends or the early butterflies of a new relationship. Happiness that extended beyond the instant gratification of a new outfit or a scoop of Ben and Jerry’s ice cream. Happiness that was more than a promotion or a paycheck. Happiness that came from a deep place within me. Happiness that could only come as a result of truly living my life’s purpose.”
<3 <3 <3
This post gave me goosebumps. I feel the passion in the writing & it makes me glad to know there are options for people to happily live an “unorthodox non-corporate” lifestyle. You are an inspiration – Congratulations :0)
Aw thank you so much!! There certainly are! Anything you could ever dream of doing is possible in one way or another 😉
I love this so much I’ve read it about 6 times and book marked it. I am currently on the path to doing the same (albeit early) but its the one true thing I am absolutely passionate about. You are great!
Aw thank you Laura. I’m inspired to hear that you’re inspired <3
I just got back from South Africa after being there for a month on study abroad. Best month of my life easily. Now that I’m back home with my parents and a recent graduate I was thinking of even today applying to some natural resource or conservation jobs. I think I will apply to woofing and ranch opportunities though as well. I want to learn to ride horses and explore out west. I’ve got a canoeing trip I’m going to plan shortly from now and a big backpacking trip on the JOhn Muir trail for next spring. From reading your article I feel that’s not going to cut it and I’m realizing I need to get moving doing other things in the meantime. Its one of those things at the same time where I need to get some more money if I want to return to SA to go to field guide school or get a plane ticket across the ocean. Thanks for the article
You’re so welcome Yates!! 🙂
Can I be your travel friend? After reading two of your blogs, I’m dying to travel! I’ve always told myself if I had it my way, I’d drop everything and go! I’ve never come to realization that that little bit of hope telling me I can do what ever it may be in life that makes me happy, is to travel! Until now!!
That’s so awesome!! Keep chasing those dreams and let me know how it unfolds <3
After having not such a great day at work and being so overwhelmed with thoughts and emotions about where my own life is headed, I of course went straight to this website. Thank you for writing such inspirational stories – I’m sure you know by now just how much affect it has on people, and it certainly changed my whole day.
Aw THANK YOU Lauren that means so much to hear. <3
This is such an amazing story! I visited Costa Rica for the first time last year and was truly amazed and hooked! I booked a ticket this September to backpack through Puerto Viejo and hopefully Panama. I was looking for some awesome Yoga studios in the area and came upon your blog! I hope one day to live the gypsy life of traveling and your blog truly inspired me 🙂
Peace & Love
That’s so awesome Leighann I’m really excited for you 🙂 If you need some guidance for your trip to Costa Rica check out my ebook: https://www.thisamericangirl.com/ultimate-guide-costa-rica/
Wow, this is amazing. I’m so jealous. I feel the same as you, nothing makes sense & how could you say no to your life’s purpose! -Overworked in Las Vegas over here. I wouldn’t even know where to begin. Ive always wanted to go to greece & see what happens. Happy Travels.
You absolutely can! What are some of the things that are holding you back?
Thanks, Fear most definitely & money. Traveling by myself for sure in a new country. Finding work a place to live… I told my boyfriend what i wanted to do. He looked at me like i had 7 heads & said have you been drinking.haha the nerve. I suppose i can be a creature of comfortable habit to. He has the whole idea to be settled. I love adventure & trying new things even just around town. I guess i don’t know how to start, because im not tied down to anything. Happy travels.
Thanks Karen, I hear you. Make sure to subscribe to my newsletter I’m working on helping this tribe get started, get on their path, and live out their dreams 🙂 http://eepurl.com/SDLHz
While reading this, I felt like I was reading something I would write about myself. I graduated college back in April 2013 and moved to St. Thomas in the USVI and have since landed a great corporate marketing job. I came down here because of a guy (still together, we’ve grown so close), but I also just wasn’t happy back home. I’m from Florida originally, and I literally had all these options and open doors back home after graduating… All the internships and part time gigs were throwing offers at me, yearly salary, bonuses, etc. But I just wasn’t happy and needed change. So on a whim, I saved up $1,200 in two weeks and put all my stuff into two suitcases and moved to STT. I am so happy I did that, because that has since only sparked the wanderlust in me even more. I just found your blog today, but I’ve been reading it nonstop! I can’t focus at work because it isn’t what I love, it doesn’t give me that “bliss” you speak of. I know many things that do, like teaching, cooking and being outside in nature. But these corporate roles pull you into another direction. It’s crazy. I am happy, but your last paragraph was the perfect summary of how I feel:
“The small belief that despite how I had felt for most of my life, I was capable of attaining happiness. Happiness that extended beyond a fun night out with friends or the early butterflies of a new relationship. Happiness that extended beyond the instant gratification of a new outfit or a scoop of Ben and Jerry’s ice cream. Happiness that was more than a promotion or a paycheck. Happiness that came from a deep place within me. Happiness that could only come as a result of truly living my life’s purpose.”
I want to travel and feel and experience the world. Luckily my boyfriend is passionate about the outdoors and I want to do this with him. I’ve been doing research the past 6 months, slowly figuring out how to save (living in the Caribbean is expensive unfortunately). This blog has really re-sparked my feelings and is giving me the extra push to take the plunge and DO IT! I’ve always been a mover and a shaker and I can’t wait to travel the world and make a difference. Thank you so much for sharing your stories.
Thank you SO much for your comment and I’m beyond happy to hear that my blog has helped you! What are some questions you still have about how to make your dreams happen and how can I support you? I’m working on adding more helpful content to my site and also creating more ebooks and guides 🙂
Just fyi, g*psy is an ethnic slur used to demean and dehumanize Rromani people, whom continue to be discriminated against based solely on their ethnicity. So if you’re not Rromani, it’s best not to use it.
Hi Katherine, thank you for sharing your insights. The way I’ve used Gypsy is in a new, popularly adopted context, one that I believe is complementary and resonates with me.
This post struck a huge chord inside me. I know deep in my soul that there is more to life than the 40-hour a week job that I am stuck with. There is more than just the city I live in. I dream of trees and sandy beaches and the open sky. I have the strongest desire to do something drastic to change my life. I want to travel the world, write and just BE. I cannot even begin to express what a blessing this post is for me right now. It gives me hope that I can do something better with my life. Thank you so much for sharing <3
Ria, thank you so much for your comment. It truly means the world to me. Are there any resources you’d like me to share or write about that will help you in this journey? xo
I’m just throwing this out there since I’m a blogger and traveler too, but I had some deep conversations with my best friend and boyfriend last night and I’m curious of your thoughts. I’ve been traveling on and off since 2007 but last night I realized when shit gets too crazy or things are becoming too much, I rationalize it with buying a ticket somewhere. I’m not saying everyone but maybe a lot of us are running from something. I realized I tend to run like I do right now to Thailand for month because I want to get my yoga certification and I hate the current job I’m in. It’s easy for me to just quit my job and go off somewhere, that is not uncharted territory for me. Staying put and getting my career started where I am making good enough money to look after myself, that is what scares me. I’ve always been a free little gypsy floating around but maybe it’s time for right now to stick it out. I also wondered all the lessons I didn’t learn because I didn’t stay long enough to push through them to evolve and grow. And I thought to myself is getting certified in yoga really something I want to do or is it a desperate move to travel and just have something else that could make me money.
I will never settle to the point where I never travel again. But I’ve been traveling and living on such a tight budget for so long, that I don’t even know what it feels like to relax and not have to worry about money. I will always travel no matter what, I always figure out a way to do it. I don’t know if there is anything you can respond to in here haha I went on a little rant but I love Costa Rica so much. Seeing your pictures made me miss it a lot. <3
Hey Laura, I completely completely get you. I’ve asked myself these questions too. But I think I’ve found a good balance over the years. Where I have a “home” in Costa Rica, a purpose through my blog and teaching yoga, and an even deeper purpose and better income now through my travel retreats. You are asking all of the right questions and I’m certain you will find your answers <3
Yes yes yes!!!
<3 <3 <3
Such an inspirational story. I shared the link on my FB page. Thank you for the kind words you’ve taken the time to write.
Daniel.
Awww thank you so much! You are a treasure <3 <3 <3
Camille
It’s hard to say why this story grabbed me so much. I was just surfing the internet looking for info on moving to Costa Rica. I have my own reasons for wanting to go there. Rarely do I respond to any sort of blogg. I read your blogg right through and all of your comments. Yes we do need bank tellers and mailmen and bless their heart for doing those tasks and doing them well. And bless your heart for realizing that you weren’t one of them.
Your story is one of hope, That there really is a path that we should be on. We just have to keep looking for it.