Moving forward: it’s time to bring your travel inspiration to life

You spent five hours pinning different photos of Rio de Janeiro, Paris, Johannesburg and Mongolia on Pinterest.

You actually made over 200 boards, by continent and places youโ€™ve been dreaming about every night. These boards feel good to look at! Youโ€™re officially inspired.

Good. I started with that too.

You then came across a travel blog, explored it for hours and read each article you were interested in.ย Bookmarked. You are now following every post of that blog.

You even subscribed to the newsletter and liked all the social media accounts. As the days pass, the Facebook posts become more and more exciting. You like every bit of it.

You become an automatic liker because the photos are so beautiful to look at. You donโ€™t even believe such place in the world exists.

Pinterest is becoming more real on your perspective as you see this person who is actually in that place you like to pin a lot.

You developed a routine of doing this everyday. As soon as you arrive your work desk, you automatically go to that bloggerโ€™s page.

You also added some other pages that inspire you to the bookmarks bar. OMG, I love her! I want to be like her! I want to travel the world!

Double inspired.

A heavy breath. Heart beating fast. These travel bloggers are already haunting you. The more you discover that more people are doing it, the more your urge to see the world increases.

You even tried to unfollow them for a time on Facebook but you just canโ€™t help it. You go directly to their page every freaking minute.

The next step? Analyze your inspiration.

You cannot do the same thing for a year โ€” pinning and stalking what other travelers do on Facebook. The habit of updating yourself with other peopleโ€™s lives will inspire you, of course.

However, the more you do it, the more you become content with just looking at their photos and not making a move. Itโ€™s comfortable.

Photos are good to look at and somehow, you feel like living vicariously through these people.

But still, at the back of your head, you want to do it really really bad. Whatโ€™s the next step? Turn that fire into fuel and move forward. Inhale, exhale. Youโ€™re alright. Relax. Think. Ask yourself the following questions:

  • What inspired me to travel the world? (Obviously, seeing others do it. However, you might have another thing in mind.)
  • What did I see that made my heart skip a beat?
  • How did I feel about it?
  • What can I do to live like them?
  • Can I do it without holding back?
  • Whatโ€™s my first step?

Get a travel inspiration notebook. Write it all down. Analyze, analyze, analyze. Have a game plan. Put random thoughts. Talk to your notebook. Make it as an outlet. Treat it as a person.

During the first stage of wanting to travel the world, your friends and family will not understand how you feel about this endeavor but believe me, the notebook will.

Well, it doesnโ€™t really respond back (that would be really creepy if a notebook can talk) but you will feel good about letting it all out.

Your emotions will be helpful in making the first move. Once everything is combined, read back. You will see it will slowly make sense even if they are just random words.

Make a move. Do not live watching other people do it.

You know what the problem is? We are so used to following other peopleโ€™s lives that we forget about ours. No matter how much you say hateful things about the Kardashians, I know you still follow them. I mean who cares if Jennifer Lawrence has her nude photos scattered all over the internet?

Would you really waste time digging deeper into that? This is the nature of society that I fully accept but donโ€™t want to apply to my life.

I beg you, to please stop creating an image-based lifestyle. Okay, fine, I really appreciate that you like my stuff and what I do.

I also want to thank you for following my journey on Facebook but what I do not like is that youโ€™ve been doing it for months and I donโ€™t even hear you reach out or seek help in making your travel dreams come true.

Will you spend all your life pinning travel photos, reading other peopleโ€™s blogs, and endlessly following their life updates on social media?

Do it now and my best advice is to start small โ€” travel to your country. Once you pull this off, YOU WILL BE UNSTOPPABLE.

When you go out there, believe me, you will have a different story to tell. You will have experiences that other travelers didnโ€™t get to experience.

Your story will be worth reading because thatโ€™s what travel does to people โ€” they convert us to storytellers. The places donโ€™t matter.

It does not mean that I have a greater experience because I am in South America. Wherever you are, there you are. Amazing things will happen once you start moving and doing things to change your life.

I am not giving up on you and you shouldnโ€™t give up on yourself, too.

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25 Comments

  1. Beautiful article. I’ve been watching people with envy for years, then the day I’ve decided to stop dreaming, my life changed. I’m not just inspired when I watch those Pinterest pics or blog post. I write the good ideas. And I don’t do a list of my dreams, but a list of the destinations I wanna go to this year. I really like your blog. It’s very inspiring!

    1. This is an inspiring post for anyone who’s been thinking about traveling for too long and hasn’t done it yet. The first step is the hardest, but once you go you’ll figure it out!

  2. Yay okay, I’ll see if I can work from home rin so I can watch ๐Ÿ™‚
    I’m the other type of traveler – the one who goes to work full time whilst living out a travel lifestyle too. Super hard work but it’s worth it ๐Ÿ™‚

  3. Hi Trisha, after reading your blog.. I suddenly booked flight last Dec 20 to Basco, Batanes – my dream destination. I spent four days visiting and touring the place. One of the best decisions ever because I got to fulfil my dream and walk over the majestic landscape I’ve been looking online for quite sometime. I trekked Mt. Pinatubo two days after and planning to go another mountain by next week. I’ll be going to Camiguin next month as well. I have listed places in the Philippines I want to see and one by one, I’ll try to accomplish them soon. I got your blog bookmarked! Thank you being an inspiration.

  4. Excellent advice Trisha, we all tend to live our life through somebody else’s life. We have to take the step and live our dreams. It might sound terrifying at first but with small steps you can do whatever you want.

  5. Sounded so similar to my feelings about reading other travel bloggers. ๐Ÿ™‚ Guess we all go through that same itch.
    Very inspiring post!

  6. Excellent advice. Our pendulum has swung the other way. We pack up and go at the drop of hat, often with too little planning. I love your encouraging words here, and starting small in your own country is a great idea to get people going.

  7. Making a move is the most important part. Until and unless one doesn’t make the move and start traveling and exploring, one only gets motivated, makes mental plans and the next day , back to square one. And it runs on a loop until one takes the leap of faith and makes the move.

  8. You are an inspiration! I am also a Filipina. I am hoping to get a Schengen visa soon. I have been dreaming of visiting European countries one at a time but I do not have enough money. Can you help me?

  9. This is so true -Make a move. Do not live watching other people do it. I once told myself. Why should I just watch people move around me? I should travel too. I others can make, why can’t I? Aspiring is the first step in making your dream come true and it should not stop from that. You should make it a reality!

  10. A thought provoking piece. I guess I agree with you for the most part. By the way , looks like you also do time travel ..Ha Ha Ha. I am referring to the line which says “Editorโ€™s Note: This post was originally published on December 17, 2017. .” Just kidding , I suppose it should say 2016.

  11. Marvelous work!. The blog is brilliantly written and provides all necessary information I really like this awesome post. Thanks for sharing this useful post.ย 

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