Outside the Walls of Comfort: The Unconventional Way to Really Begin Living

“Take the first step in faith. You don’t have to see the whole staircase,
just take the first step.”

Martin Luther King, Jr.

“Should I send it?” my husband petitions me expectantly, nervously.

He had just composed the email which would mean his resignation from his corporate position which he’d held for the past four years – the first four years of our married life together.

He’d taken the position soon after we’d wed. They were looking for someone in it for the ‘long haul’ – until 65.

That was us. We didn’t like to take risks. No commission jobs. No entrepreneurial endeavors.

Just a paycheck every two weeks please, with a side of 401(k) and health benefits.

We were ‘comfortable’ with our life. We knew what to expect.

But since then, things had changed. We had changed.

We started reading books. We started taking risks. And now we really wanted to explore, discover, dream.

Our dream was to travel, live abroad, explore this earth and give back through humanitarian work.

So with a shaking hand, a big dream and belief in words such as:

“Go confidently in the direction of your dreams, live the life you have imagined”

and

“The moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too,”

we hit ‘send’ and started our new life.

It was scary. It was a step into the dark, outside the walls of comfort.

Looking back over those four years, except for highlights like the birth of a new child or a special vacation, it’s hard to remember what we did, where we went, what we ate, and how we celebrated birthdays and anniversaries.

It seems like one big blur – a few days of (the same) experience repeated over and over for four years.

But in the four years since that time, there are so many memories of amazing experiences that my mind can hardly contain them all.

It’s as though we had ten years of experience in four years.

I recall vividly celebrating my 30th birthday in Samaná, Dominican Republic, riding ‘sandwiched’ on a motorcycle between our moto-taxi driver and my husband (a few inappropriate comments were yelled from the streets as we passed), as we dodged cars and pedestrians and climbed hills to the humble home of an elderly Dominican man to order a handmade guitar.

Afterward we ate coconut fish and enjoyed the balmy evening in an open air restaurant in Las Galeras.

My memory of our 9th anniversary is equally clear. Our driver transported us two hours from the village where we lived in rural India to eat at Lydie’s Restaurant in Chennai (Madras). She treated us to a fabulously unforgettable meal.

Following that, we visited the Crocodile Bank, watched cobra’s being milked and explored the ancient temple ruins of Mahabalipuram.

But it’s not just the ‘big’ days that are memorable. I can recollect everyday occurrences that, because we were traveling, weren’t so ordinary. Some of the daily experiences I recall include:

Preparing meals in the Dominican Republic
Daily photos of the sunrises in Costa Rica
Walks through the village in India
Grocery shopping at Hypermas in Costa Rica, Spencer’s in India, and Walmart in Mexico
Making my own broom from palm fronds to clean house
Washing our laundry by hand
Taking cold showers and bucket baths
Open air markets and flowers in my hair in India
Educating my kids through language immersion, watching snakes eating frogs, climbing coconut trees and so much more

With travel, everyday experiences rise above the mundane and become memorable adventures – everything from using the toilet, to eating, to washing, shopping and sweeping.

Everyday is new, different, exciting.

We’re like kids again, packed with enthusiasm for the world around us, and sharing the adventure with our family- we are living our dream.

We’re nomadic by choice, homeless on purpose – because it’s who we are, it’s what we LOVE. We are the wanderers.

Our life began when we took that leap of faith and stepped outside our comfort zone.