LIFE LESSONS
35 Countries Later, I Stopped Traveling
It’s about more than the pandemic.
Respond to every call that excites your spirit.
— Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi
My eyes have seen a little bit of the world. I say “a little bit” to remind myself 35 is just a number.
The real gauge of what my soul has experienced comes not with how many continents I’ve visited nor the amount of stamps on my passport. I measure it by the laughter shared with strangers, the smiles of children passing by, the tears on my cheeks when taking in majestic landscapes.
Every encounter has brought me to this moment. Indeed, I have come to realize the path was set long before I was born.
The Decision
In December 2019 I decided to leave corporate life to pursue my dream of global trekking. Lviv, Ukraine was as far as I made it.
There was a tango festival hosted in that famed Eastern European city, and I couldn’t miss it. At the time, I’d been considering quitting the 8–5 grind for a few years. But, fear and a hefty paycheck kept me at the cubicle.
Three weeks before telling my manager I would be ending my contract a few days early, I gave myself a pep talk: you’ve got enough money in the bank to skip a…
