Sky High 2017 — Katie Lotz
“Ohmygod ew I’m sweating.” These were the first thoughts I had as I woke up on January 1st, 2018.
The sun was pouring through my window and I felt uncomfortably hot as my hangover settled in. Yet as I opened my eyes and looked out the window I immediately smiled. So much so that I caught myself off guard, and if you know me, you know I smile… a lot. At the same time the pounding headache hit me, so did the reminder that I was in Santiago, Chile for the month. Hola 2018.
New year, new continent, new climate. My mind raced with possibilities of what would come in this year, but first, I needed to reflect. 2017 was wild. There were a lot of intense moments and it was definitely the most challenging year of my life, but with that also came some of the best moments of my life and some of the best lessons.
After some careful thought and consideration, here are my top three lessons learned in 2017…
Don’t listen to other people, listen to your gut. When I first heard about WYCO in 2016, I was hooked. I told Blaine Anderson that I wanted in, and when that opportunity came in 2017, there was no part of me that questioned it. Everyone I knew was amazed by the concept and the job, but also voiced their hesitations to me of it being a start-up and giving up my entire life to take it on. I heard them out, but in the end I listened to my gut and joined the We Roam team and I would not change that decision for anything.
There’s no such thing as ‘normal life’. I don’t have to work a 9–5 job. At a desk. In a huge city. After spending a year teaching English and now working remote around the world, it’s dawned on me that this whole idea of “normal life” really isn’t and doesn’t have to be my normal. At this point my normal is living abroad in a different country every month, traveling with strangers that become friends, and working with people that I didn’t even know existed last year and now I can’t imagine not knowing them.
Living abroad is challenging and that is the beauty of it. Despite all of my smiles on Instagram (and smiles 75% of real life) living abroad has its difficulties. I already knew this from living in China for a year, but this is true of every new destination I live in. Some days the smallest thing, like doing laundry, ordering an Uber, or taking a hot shower, can seem impossible. However it is these moments of being uncomfortable, inconvenienced, and frustrated, that become the most memorable and make me realize how strong and capable I can be. It is these moments that make me realize how lucky I am to come from a country where certain things like heat or drinkable tap water are taken for granted. It is these moments that make me really feel like I am out on an adventure.
So here we are in 2018. Let’s keep this adventure going.
