Inspiration From the Inspired

It’s not uncommon for people to hide their true dreams in fear of disapproval or risk. No matter who you are, if you are following your heart you received a motivational push along the way. Something that told you to take the leap, that in the end it will all be okay. Because in the back of your mind you were afraid that it was the wrong decision. But then you realized the leap wasn’t that scary and after the first hurdle you can then jump a slightly larger one. Pretty soon you’re winning the race.

As much as I love people, I really hate it when someone thinks it is impossible to be truly happy.

The only thing people need to realize is that dreams and success cannot happen overnight. Don’t be expected to serve in an Oscar winning performance after your first audition. It’s not going to get handed to you.

My roadblocks for my travel goals were the fear of being looked down upon. I didn’t want to spend my college years in a dorm room partying every weekend. I didn’t want loved ones to be disappointed because I hated the idea of settling down after college and that instead I wanted to continue to live like a broke college student except in different countries. And I had no interest in spending money on clothing, alcohol, shoes or anything else that didn’t involve a plane ticket.

Well finally I decided ‘screw it’ because there was no way in hell I was going to live a life I didn’t want. So on that day I had a nice cry session of ‘what am I doing’ and promised myself that I will live every moment from then on out as crazy and adventurous as possible because I didn’t want to blend in with the crowd. My heart wanted mountains, trains, beaches and bliss. Pure bliss. Although I’m still in the beginning stages of the race I am already glad that I took the first leap.

Stop being afraid. That’s the most important part. Once you stop thinking about ‘what if’, you can start focusing on how and why. How you plan to achieve what’s on your mind and how you are going to conquer that first step. But also never forget why you are doing it and why you love it so much. A lot of people get caught up in their dreams when they become reality and forget why they went after it in the first place. I can’t say I know what that feels like since my dreams are not my full reality, although my leaps are slowly leading me there.

So who started my race ? Mainly adventure books and other travel blogs.

They inspired me to travel without a care. Let others laugh at me, judge me, and not understand me. We’re all just as weird as one another and my group of weirdness just enjoys a different way of living. After reading their stories and insights I was enlightened myself. And then all of that turned into this; a blog. I started Shalee Wanders not just to share stories and tips, but to hopefully inspire the same way I was inspired. To show a hidden traveler that there is a group of travel weirdos who would love to gain another member. If this is your first travel-blog experience, go find some more! I mean hell, you’ll realize that my experience traveling compared to other blogs is tiny. We are all at different levels and that’s what makes us our own little community.

If you want big time travel awesomeness, check out Young Adventuress.

She was my biggest inspiration and push to start living and writing. I saw a lot of myself in her style and she was the first travel blog I ever stumbled upon. Now I continue to watch her blog and she continues to inspire me everyday. Her travel tips and push on solo female travel really got me. Not to mention she is pretty much the coolest person I’ve never met.

Thanks Liz, you rock.

So as I continue through the race I have goals that I have started to accomplish and some that are still leaps away. But eventually I will get there as long as I don’t quit. For my future goals, I would obviously love to do some more traveling. I’m not a trust fund baby so I can’t travel on a whim whenever. I work, go to school, wander and blog. I also would love to write a magazine article and share my travel photos and lessons with people through print. My dream goal, would to be a travel writer as a lifestyle. I’ll be sure to get there because I’ll take advantage of every opportunity coming my way and I’m not going to let anyone tell me I can’t. And neither should you.

We all must be inspired before being an inspiration.

So let your hair down, throw your shoes to the sky and let everything that ever held you back die a slow death behind you. Stop doing what you think your peers approve of and what your loved ones want. Your friends might laugh and others may think your insane but I guarantee they are wishing they could do the same thing. Pretty soon they’ll be looking up to you and saying how much you inspire them. If you start the race and realize you hate the event you can always dip out and try the next one. There is always an option and no one should ever be stuck in their life. As long as you are doing what you love, you will be happy. Money and possessions will mean less to you and soon enough you’ll realize that no matter how big or small the dream was, it was worth the leap.