{"id":12654616066,"date":"2017-07-07T18:15:53","date_gmt":"2017-07-07T23:15:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jefffinley.org\/?p=12654616066"},"modified":"2017-07-07T23:35:12","modified_gmt":"2017-07-08T04:35:12","slug":"journey-abroad-found-courage-travel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jefffinley.org\/journey-abroad-found-courage-travel\/","title":{"rendered":"My Journey Abroad – How I Found the Courage to Travel"},"content":{"rendered":"
I recently got back from a three month solo trip in Europe. It was my first time traveling abroad. There’s a lot I could say about it, but first I need to write about what led up to it, why I went, and how I found the courage to go.<\/p>\n
Last fall, I wrote about the feeling that things were coming to and end<\/a>. I felt like my time in Austin was complete and had a sense that I’d be going somewhere else when my apartment lease ended a few months later.<\/p>\n I began to have fantasies about world travel. Ideas began to creep into my consciousness in 2013 and 2014 when I learned about digital nomads and vagabonding. I had friends that went to Thailand and seemed to notice people who made travel a lifestyle. But at that point I didn’t think it was for me.<\/p>\n I never really cared to travel the world before. I was happy where I was. But I was itching for the freedom to spread my wings and see if I could do it. I felt a longing to travel solo because I wanted time away to be with myself.<\/p>\n After I quit my job in 2015 and the initial separation from my wife, I set out on a cross country road trip<\/a> that lasted 43 days. It was the first time in 12 years I got to experience life as a single man. I wrote about some of my experiences of love and heartbreak<\/a>\u00a0but overall it was a breath of fresh air to experience some freedom after being stuck in routine and domestic life for over a decade.<\/p>\n That road trip inspired me to move to Austin, Texas after my divorce was final. I lived alone for the first time ever and it was a mix of struggle and success. Loneliness and connection. Fear and healing.\u00a0After about nine months however, I felt like I was ready to move on. I started looking for signs for what’s next.<\/p>\n