These are other people\u2019s opinions. It\u2019s time to start listening to yourself.<\/p>\n
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If you choose to lend an ear to every person with a mouth, chances are you\u2019ll never do anything. You\u2019ll be so busy listening to everyone\u2019s fears that they might end up becoming your own. You could sit wrapped in a blanket, black-out blinds blocking all damaging sun rays from penetrating your safe house, watching news report after news report, or huddled over your computer obsessively checking for word of imminent threats – but then you risk living in constant fear, and never doing anything. Do you want to stay in your house forever? I know it\u2019s warm, but so are other places…and there are beaches there! You can even pack your slippers if you feel like it would help.<\/p>\n
If you\u2019re reading this, clearly you have an interest in seeing the world. If you want to go but something is holding you back – doubts in yourself, or about what\u2019s waiting for you out there, it\u2019s important to remember that everyone that travels has these same concerns. The difference is we don\u2019t let that stop us. We don\u2019t accept that we should stay and forego seeing the world as a preventative measure. That\u2019s no way to live.<\/p>\n
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\u201cYou\u2019re 100% going to die.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cTry not to fall in love with everyone you meet, Amy. I can see it now, bone through your nose, baby on each tit.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cI think your safest bet is to trust no one.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n These may sound like the ramblings of a mad man, but they are in fact real nuggets of advice I was offered when I announced I was going to travel solo around South America. Time and again, family friends, colleagues, and near strangers, smiled, nodded, looked into my excited green eyes\u2026and then calmly listed all the ways they suspected I might meet my maker on my travels. I laughed it all off of course\u2026and here\u2019s a head\u2019s up – you\u2019ll have to too.<\/p>\n People assumed I wouldn\u2019t know what I was doing. That this was a first for me. That I hadn\u2019t navigated myself around foreign places over the years. They gasped in horror when I told them I was going alone. Few considered the fact I actually wanted<\/em> to go on my own. That I wanted<\/em> to rely entirely on myself, and that I wanted<\/em> to make all of my own decisions. That was why I had a problem with most of these \u2018words of wisdom\u2019, because people were assuming<\/em>\u2026<\/p>\n Allowing other people to make assumptions about you isn\u2019t only something women do. It applies to everyone. If we allow it, and don\u2019t speak up, or question it, people will continue to do it. Be vocal, correct them, and most importantly, don\u2019t let their assumptions or opinions about you, become your own assumptions or opinions of you. It\u2019s easy to agree and accept, but it\u2019s much more fun to seek the truth, and to get to know yourself.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.hostelworld.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/OGC-Picture-2.jpg\")
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