You should travel solo to a foreign country at least once in your life. Here’s why:
1. Get to Know Yourself & Identify Your Purpose
I chose to go to Bermuda, alone and away from anyone I knew, because then I’d only have to depend on myself for knowledge, wisdom, happiness, opportunities, and the life I wanted to live. Bermuda, of all the places in the world, was one destination I felt was the safest, and most beautiful to embark on this journey of self-discovery. I arrived in Bermuda on Christmas Day in 2018. It was off-season and I arrived in the early afternoon. As soon as I made it to my Airbnb, I threw my bags down, changed into a beach dress, and headed straight for the beach. I was ready to venture out into the unknown completely alone. There’s always a lot to learn when you are by yourself. I made it to the beach and could count with both of my hands the number of people I saw. Wow, I really was alone. It was Christmas Day, a time when families spend the day together opening gifts and eating special dishes. I had so much joy, yet, I started to cry. I used this opportunity to release all of the things I didn’t want to own in my life, considering that I was just a few short days away from a new year. I cried away all of my fears, all of my doubts, and all of my anxieties. It was time to trust in the universe. To trust in my Savior.
“And, when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.”
The Alchemist, Paul Coelho
After that, I wiped my tears, brushed my shoulders off and breathed in the air of the beautiful island I was so blessed to be on. I was in Bermuda, a place many want to visit, but never will. I started counting my blessings. I was really blessed.
As I laid on the beach and watched the ocean rush to the shore and then return again and again, I started to think about all the things I wanted for myself. I started to think about who I was and what was my purpose. There were two things at this point in my life that I was extremely passionate about and driven by, traveling and teaching. However, for quite a while I have wrestled with this desire of how to impact others with my passion? I know that I make an impact daily through teaching, but it often feels short-lived. Students come to class everyday for 6 hours and then go home. I also only see 90 students a day. How can I reach more students, or even more teachers, not just in New York but all over the world?
I know that some people have yet to even discover their passions. But I unveiled my passions some time ago and I’ve been fortunate to make many of my dreams a reality. I love teaching! I love traveling! Maybe one day I’ll teach abroad! But it was now time for me to use my passions as a platform to inspire and impact others in a positive way. The issue was how? I was in Bermuda, alone, to figure it out. I vowed that in 2019, things would be different, real different. But I didn’t wait for 2019 to start this journey. I started right away.
1. Use the World to Inspire a Transformation
The next day, I decided to venture out to another part of the island and get to work. I found a cove that was breathtaking. In that space I felt like a winner already. I used this environment to start a transformation. First, I started to identify skills, talents, and things that made me unique. I wrote them down. Then, I starting thinking about things I loved, things that made me excited and that I could share with others. I also wrote them down. Finally, I read them to myself a few times and created a timeline for things I wanted to try out and how I would share it with the world. This lead me to start researching how other people shared their passions with the world and how they turned them into a career. I am a teacher and I love what I do but I realized quickly in my field of work that my impact seems to only go so far and my hard work is so undervalued and to top it off most of it is uncompensated for. This needed to change!
At this point there was so much that I needed to process, but I had actually started planning. So, I spent the rest of the day exploring other charming coves along South Shore.
On Day 3, I decided to spend some time identifying what I wanted the world to know about me. What message did I have that would inspire others? What information could I share that would actually help people? Well, along with all of the instructional strategies I’ve learned through teaching that I needed to share, I also love to travel and maybe one day I could teach and experience a different culture. Maybe I’d get to see what instruction was like in other countries. Maybe I could bring a new approach to instruction in my own classroom! It was exciting to think about all of the future possibilities!
2. Listen to and Validate Yourself
On the evening of my third day in Bermuda, I started writing. I started listing out all of the things that were successful in my career as an instructor and things I wanted to improve. Here my aim was to determine how to take things a step further and also to validate myself, something so many of us look to others for. I answered questions like, what are experiences you are most proud of in your career? What challenges did you face and what was your response to them? What does it mean to be successful?
3. Create a Plan of Action
The Journey to Blogging
One of the things I’ve always done and for so many years has been journaling. I remember as a young child, any money that I had saved from chores, I spent on a journal. My favorite gift was a journal. Every time I walked into Marshall’s or TJ Maxx, for some reason I end up in the aisle full of journals. I’ve also wrote on a plethora of blogging platforms including Tumblr and WordPress. I still do. Since I already love doing this, finding a platform to share my inspiration with the world was easy. Now it was about execution and consistency! I finally left Bermuda with a clear sense of direction for what I wanted my life to look like and a pathway for how to create the life I wanted to live.
It’s your turn now. Pick up your pencil and start writing. Embark on your own personal journey of self-discovery and transformation. What impact do you want to make in the world? What are values important to you? How will you make a change and hold yourself accountable?
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