I once said that not every day on the road is easy. It’s not. The life of a gypsy can be lonely.
There’s an Avett Brothers song that I have come to identify with. The first time I heard “Pretty Girl At The Airport”, I was touched by the haunting image – how over the years, I have been that girl – that lonely, pretty girl at the airport or the train station. The girl that’s always waiting.
That’s why I took this opportunity – I didn’t want to wait anymore. However, like I said, it’s not always easy. This week hasn’t been easy. In the past few days, I’ve had to give a lot up. I had to sell my car. I had to give up my dog. These are the sacrifices I continue to make in order to live this life.
In the end, I hope it’s worth it, but for now, it’s just difficult. Sometimes I feel like I’m aimlessly wandering through life. Sometimes I feel like I’m letting my family and friends down, slowly losing contact with people I once called my best friends. I don’t send birthday cards, I don’t remember anniversaries. I haven’t been home for Thanksgiving in years.
Some nights, the only company I have are Netflix movies or my favorite Gavin Degraw songs. These past few nights have been the hardest, and I’ve beat myself up about it…. which is why I was shocked to get an email from a reader asking me for life advice.
“I am currently trying to figure out what to do with my life,” she said. She called me an excellent writer. She asked for tips for her own blog and in general, for advice about life.
The first thing that came into my mind was…. I have no idea. The truth is, I so don’t have things completely together. Most people my age are established in careers, married, and starting a family. I have none of those things, which makes me wonder if I’m a poor choice for life advice.
But then I considered what else she said. She talked about finding purpose, about finding a career that gave her spark. I was reminded of myself – the Pretty Girl At The Airport – that girl that was always waiting, now, the girl that’s out in the world looking. So despite of my insecurities, I gave her some tips. So far, they’ve gotten me to Europe, and maybe, they can take you somewhere too.
Find what you love and it’ll be easy to stick to it.
I love traveling. I love making stupid little videos with my camera. I love climbing on top of mountains and swimming in freezing water. It scares and intimidates me, but that’s what’s so amazing about it!
Don’t limit yourself.
Envision what you want and pursue it, no matter what. Remember that failures are just a temporary set back, a sign that you need to try something a bit different. Don’t ever get discouraged by failure.
Make people CARE about you and your work.
I try to be as honest as I can about why I want to do this. I want to explore. Wander. I want to live life to the fullest. The reasons are a bit stereotypical, but honest.
Don’t give up, just change direction.
I find that most things don’t work out so better things can work out later. I met Of Monsters and Men the other day because I missed my tour bus the day before. Right place, right time.
Go into knowing that at first, it pays like shit.
I get paid less than shit. I sold a lot of my stuff, in the process of selling my car, quit my well paying job, etc. to do this. I had to disconnect from the idea that I needed material possessions. On a low budget, you can’t always do the stuff you necessarily want to do, so you need to get creative. However, sometimes I get to do cool stuff for free, so it evens out.
Network, network, network.
If you don’t have a LinkedIn or Twitter, start one now. Follow people. Ask people to connect with you. Learn everything you can by example. Constantly post – using tools like Hootsuite is a good idea and it’s free. Email other bloggers you like and ask them for advice. Learn EVERYTHING you can from the people you meet.
And if all else fails, remember this:
Sometimes mistakes are fate.
I have made so many mistakes. I’ve procrastinated, missed opportunities, hurt people, dyed my hair awful colors, dated the wrong boys, decided to skip a job interview, etc. – things that seemed like mistakes, but turned out to be for a reason. Don’t beat yourself up over a mistake.
Follow my new friend Chaelyn on her amazing Tumblr, Happy Healthy Repeat!