It was late afternoon on a hot summer’s day in Greece when I was sat in the garden brainstorming names for the project that would accompany my journey for the upcoming year.
The name ‘Taking a leap forward’ might have seemed a little strange or maybe even unconventional, considering that I’m going to be travelling, exploring and volunteering. It might also spark the question of why I didn’t even include the word ‘travel’ in the title, since connecting with the local people and experiencing their life is exactly what I am passionate about, and eager to share. In every place I go to, I aim to have an impact, a contribution, whether that’s through a daily interaction or a project. I’m inspired to be an active traveller, being a small part of the local community when I can.
The reason that I deliberately chose to keep this distinction is that I felt there is a fundamental difference between my project and similar attempts to document and share travel experiences. My project is not intended to be a travel blog in the conventional sense, and you might have already noticed that there are very little direct descriptions of activities, places to visit, and intricacies like how to visit them or when, which in my personal experience are often essential in travel blogs and websites. I have tremendous respect for all such projects and I have benefitted massively from then, but this is not one of my goals with this endeavour.
Instead, I write about the things which I believe to be important to write about.
Experiences which, unless we document and share them with the world, we risk losing something significant that they have to offer.
Experiences and pictures worth sharing with the world in order to create understanding, foster respect for our differences and provide an alternative perspective to life.
Some of my writings will be more practical, aiming to shed light into specific practicalities and intricacies of such adventures, while others will be a lot more descriptive and emotive, focusing on meaning, connections, realisations and lessons learnt. The style is anything which I feel captures the moment best and suits the aim of each article.
As a traveller, I travel to experience different snippets of life, to open more windows in my mind which allow me to see what life is and what life could be, and through all that to somehow become a more understanding and receptive human being. I write of experiences that strikd me, of experiences that will stay with me long after they have happened because of the strong emotions or intense thinking that they evoked.
Naturally, this is something purely personal, it’s a judgement of having something worthwhile to share with the world. I document my experiences because they had an impact on me, and I try to always identify the impact – direct or indirect – I have had on the environment around me. For me, this is human connection at its finest. It’s a subtle form of connection which is very likely to be missed if we focused on all the day-to-day routine. It might be a passionate conversation over a cup of local brewed coffee, an intense but curious exchange of prolonged, deep eye contact, a windy walk that takes you to special places. Places where the locals live, eat and socialise, often the smallest or most run down places hidden away from the hustle and bustle of tourism.
And to be able to observe these experiences and let a place give you all that it has to offer, taking a leap of faith is important.
To decide to pursue such an adventure (or any other adventure out of the ordinary for that matter) requires taking a leap of faith. Requires us to surrender some control to the universe and allow life to unfold, to take us in new directions and to gift us with unique experiences. This can be scary and unsettling, since we are stepping into a reality which is unknown to us and has a lot more variables than our accustomed life. We let go of the routine within which we function and the somewhat increased predictability and sense of control that comes with it. Risk might feel heightened and life more fluid.
This is the space in which I explore exactly that. I explore how it feels to be taking a leap forward into a different direction, into something unknown. How it feels to trust the process and explore something different in life.
It’s an honest, direct and personable accord of my experiences and everything that forms part of this leap.
My aim is to show that it’s possible. It’s possible to take a leap and do something different, and manage all the associated feelings, thoughts and practicalities. I’m also hoping that this functions as an indicative example of how this dream (this leap) could look like, either for inspiration or simply for reassurance. My leap involved quitting my job and leaving my life in the UK to volunteer and travel in Africa (so far!). Yours might look different, but the fundamental principles might be very similar.
Ultimately, this project is founded on honesty. It portrays both the beautiful aspects of this adventure and the challenges, as I’m not intending to show you anything through rose-tinted glasses. I’m trying to always be positive and flip a negative on its head to see the positives in it, but I deeply appreciate (and have first hand experience in the fact that) doing something like this is difficult, emotional and intense. It requires the confrontation of a lot of fears, doubts and even re-evaluation of some life beliefs. Nonetheless, it can be done, and I believe that good things come out of being open, accepting calculated risks and taking a leap of faith into a different direction.