It’s a classic tale as old as time, but travel has been a dream ever since I was a kid. Looking back, I guess I had instinctually gone down a path that eventually led me to create my own company, and discover a sense of entrepreneurship. A path that led me to different places for various film and TV projects, which all coincided perfectly with my dream of long-term travel.
Travel Inspires Creativity
Traveling really inspires me creatively. And my passion was always about creating something. Having a vision, being a visionary. Creating something that was hopefully inspiring and educational even. My focus on documentary film was about getting to be in a place, document what was going on through the eyes of the people there, while weaving together a story.
It all came down to story.
The Story Behind Travel
Travel also comes down to story – finding and living a real adventure. Being able to document my life through my own eyes and through a camera, while also writing it, in a way has always been my dream. Letting it unfold as it will. Learning the art of storytelling and documentary filmmaking has proved to be a priceless gift.
When you travel you open yourself up. Your mind becomes like a beginner’s mind. Exploring a completely different culture – the food, language, environment, animals, trees, birds, weather, architecture, mindset, timing – everything seems to be different. Your mind kind of opens and you become a sponge. It’s all about the joy of learning, and choosing to be a lifelong learner.
Realizing the world is huge, and life is short.
That’s why I travel…
Why Not Start Traveling?
Especially when you’re still relatively young? Although there is a concept that you can only travel after you retire, why can’t you incorporate travel and the lifestyle that you want into your business? Especially if you create your own schedule, and you choose your own projects already – why not decide to also incorporate travel into that?
So that became more and more of a reality for Nate and I. Travel became something we saw was possible through listening to the Zero to Travel podcast, with all its real life stories. Stories with real people, figuring out how to make travel happen, with all of the ups and downs. Though not easy, they made it happen, and they got to live their dream.
We’ve realized there’s not always going to be pat little answers to all the questions we have, but there is beauty in not always knowing. That is the adventure.
You might not know what’s behind the next corner, but that is why it’s so damn exciting in the first place! Because that’s how you learn and that’s how you grow – through the mixed bag of challenges and equally spontaneous serendipities that happen when you allow them to. Not to mention the many angels who mysteriously show up in your life at just the perfect moments, in the form of mentors, friends, and supporters.
By hearing the stories of so many who had made travel a part of their life – it finally dawned on us. These are ordinary people, doing extraordinary things. Why couldn’t we do that too?
The Turning Point
To have faith in yourself that you can do this, and making a leap of faith – that was the turning point for us.
If you look at the structure of any good story, film or book – there’s always a main character with a dramatic arc. When the story begins, they are in a homeostasis, maybe it’s a stable place, but life is sort of hum drum, same old, same old. Then there is an inciting incident where something significant happens in their life. Maybe they’ve always had this dream of doing something, but they’ve never had the push to get there.
Then something shocking or crazy happens and they realize they need to make a change. They feel a calling to do something BIG. They might toy with the idea, but they eventually must CHOOSE to embark on this new journey calling to them.
There will surely be many challenges and obstacles ahead, but there is always someone who supports them. Maybe it’s in the form of a mentor or a teacher who believes in them. Then they make a leap of faith and go on the adventure of their life. Hopefully they learn a lot about themselves, transforming into the person they’ve aspired to be.
Leap of Faith
That is what this feels like for us. We have felt a true calling for an opportunity to grow. An opportunity to go on an adventure, tell the unfolding story and share that with the world.
I couldn’t be more grateful for this. To finally be here right now, walking around this beautiful city of Merida, exploring this gorgeous state of Yucatan, Mexico and knowing this is only the start – I just feel so much joy in my heart that we actually did it.
We took the leap of faith and it was so worth it. There is so much more ahead of us. Of course there have been challenges, just like anything with life, but if you never do it, you’ll never know and you might be left with regret. So why not? We’re sure glad that we did.
Thanks for coming with us on this new adventure. We are so excited you’re here!
-Cassie and Nate
