So many people want to travel the world and take a gap year, but a huge number of those people are held back by one thing. Fear. Fear is one of the most common reasons people give up on their dreams of travel, and it really shouldn’t be. Fear is never a good reason not to do anything. Here is how you can beat that fear and follow your travel dreams.
Taking a gap year or any amount of time out to travel the world is right up there at the top of most peoples bucket lists and new years resolutions lists, everyone dreams of doing it, some people actually get as far as planning it, but then they pull back at the last minute and start making a whole smorgasboard of excuses why they can’t.
I hear it all the time. I get emails every single day with people saying the same thing, they want to travel but …
And they are always the same excuses too.
- I can’t afford to travel the world.
- I don’t have the time with my studies/career/family.
- Travelling is too dangerous.
- I can’t leave my boyfriend/girlfriend/partner.
- I can’t go on my own.
- What about my career?
All these are just excuses, and in fact some of my very first articles on this site were about blowing each and every one of those excuses out of the water because if people really want to travel, and I mean really want to, then these excuses shouldn’t matter at all.
What they are really is just a manifestation of fear. Fear of the unknown. Fear of stepping outside of your comfort zone. Fear of doing something different.
If you are genuinely dreaming of travelling the world and seeing what is out there, but for whatever reason you are making excuses not to go then you need to get over that mental block that is telling you that you can’t do it and tell yourself that you can.
Because you really can, and that is the absolute truth.
That thing you are dreaming of, that gap year, that backpacking trip, that dream of taking a few months out, a year out, longer even to travel the world is not a new thing. You aren’t the only one dreaming of doing this. Thousands of others do it every single day, I have done it for the better part of twenty years, and if we can all do it, you can too! You aren’t alone in this.
All you have to do is unburden yourself from that fear, stop making those excuses and find concrete ways to go about realising your dream. Start planning your gap year and then find specific ways to make that plan a reality.
Stop doubting yourself! You can do this! Travelling the world is easier now than it has ever been, and if you don’t believe me just think about the fact that when I started travelling mobile phones were an expensive luxury and to use the internet you had to go and find an actual internet cafe! Yes, those scenes in the Beach weren’t ironic nostalgia back then.
And remember, the absolute worst that can happen is that you get out there, see a few amazing sites, find out long term travel isn’t for you and come back home. No harm, no foul. You’ll have had a great holiday and you can carry on with your life.
But at least you would have tried, and that really is the most important thing.
The only limits you have are the ones you impose on yourself. There is nothing stopping you realising your dreams of travelling the world apart from your own fears, are you really going to let fear stop you having all those amazing, life changing adventures?
If you want to travel the world, stop being afraid and get out there and do it! It’s all in your hands.
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Related Articles.
Excuse Buster Series Part 1: Why People Make Excuses Not To Travel Independently.
No Great Story Ever Starts With I stayed At Home.
No One Wishes They Travelled Less When They Die.
Michael Huxley is a published author, professional adventurer and founder of the travel website, Bemused Backpacker. He has spent the last twenty years travelling to over 100 countries on almost every continent, slowly building Bemused Backpacker into a successful business after leaving a former career in emergency nursing and travel medicine, and continues to travel the world on numerous adventures every year.
Bemused Backpacker 
Fear is the one thing that will stop you back, and people don’t really understand that. The one thing that people understand is them being able to make excuses all the time, one, two three and they have a new excuse that makes them not do new things. And all of that comes because people are afraight that the new thing will bring something scary to them. And this is the most important, they feel “something” scary will happen. Mostly people are not even able to think about what is the thing that they are afraight of. So, just let it go!
Well said!
Excellent read and very inspiring.
Thanks so much! 🙂
Brilliantly put.
Thank you