When I was a kid, I had a serious Ferdinand Magellan thing going on. I loved geography & history. I loved finding out where places were and learning the history of those places. Of my many dreams, one of them was visiting and meeting the inhabitants of those places. I knew that I wanted to travel, work and live abroad, and have exotic experiences. I also figured, as a writer, I needed to broaden my creative horizons.
The culture I come from doesn’t encourage single women of marriageable age to just go off to discover (the reasons for this requires several blog posts). I struggled with the desire to venture off for a long time after I graduated university. I had a good job, lived with my parents and was happy but at the same time, I wasn’t happy. I thought about the rest of the world a lot. One day, an opportunity presented itself and I went for it. I told my parents I was flying the coop finally to a land far far away. The day I left home, my mum bawled a lot, which led to me bawling a lot too, but I still flew the coop.
It’s been nearly 6 years since that day and I've met many people from different places, traveled widely and had a lot of experiences, both exotic and not so exotic. While not been everything I had hoped it would be, the ride has been fun and I wouldn’t want it any different.
If I died tomorrow, the last thought in my mind would be, “At least for a short period of time, I got to live some of my dreams.”
Life is short. Time is shorter. Nothing is worse than a life bound by fear of change, fear of the unknown, a life filled with “coulda, woulda, shoulda done that.” Whatever life might bring your way, remember to live your dreams. You will never be able to go back and live your life again. All you have is now, so live your best life.
