Taking a break from the usual photo-stream, I've decided to participate in an initiative which the travel blog BootsnAll has created. Starting November 1, they launched a project called 30 Days of Indie Travel. They’re inviting bloggers from around the world (including you!) to join us in a daily blogging effort reflecting on our past travel experiences. Each day, they'll post a new prompt on BootsnAll articles. Bloggers can follow the prompts as strictly or loosely as they like, interpreting them in various ways and responding via text, photos or video posted on their own blogs.
Today's theme: Fear
Just as travel can be fun and exciting, it can also have its challenging, or even downright scary, moments. Being in a new place pushes us out of our comfort zone and makes us face our fears. Tell about a time you had to face your fear when traveling, and what was the result.
Today's theme: Fear
Just as travel can be fun and exciting, it can also have its challenging, or even downright scary, moments. Being in a new place pushes us out of our comfort zone and makes us face our fears. Tell about a time you had to face your fear when traveling, and what was the result.
I've never been a position where I truly felt "fear" per say.... like I was never scared for my life or anything of that nature. However, anything unfamiliar can bring with it an element of fear, especially if in an area outside your familiarity, or comfort zone. For instance, walking alone at night through the narrowly winding dark passages and alleys that make up the downtown core in Varanasi... that gets your heart pumping. Getting malaria in a village fully of hippies, hours away from civilization... or a hospital, and no means to get to one if needed to? A tad frightening - though I was a little too sick to think clearly enough to even recognize that as fear. Having a cab driver take you and your 2 drunk friends on a detour to your destination through the Favelas in Rio De Janeiro, late one night, and have him jump out of the cab without explanation saying "if trouble - you drive!".. hmm, that was as scary as it was confusing. These I could categorize in the "I may have felt slightly higher levels of adrenaline" spectrum, though I can't honestly say it instilled what I would define as "fear".
I can understand how everyone's different, and some of these things would have scared the living crap out of some people, where as others may not even bat an eye. Sometimes the fear may just be due to the cultural differences awareness and not knowing how to handle a situation. No matter what the situation, or who is trying to handle it, the best option is to always try to stay calm. Take a few deep breathes. Your judgement will be less clouded and it's going to be easier to try and think rationally about how to handle everything.
Not every situation will end up as planned, but sometimes those scariest moments turn in to some of the best moments of your life. It all starts with facing your fears, taking a deep breath, and knowing you can tackle almost anything the world throws at you!
Not every situation will end up as planned, but sometimes those scariest moments turn in to some of the best moments of your life. It all starts with facing your fears, taking a deep breath, and knowing you can tackle almost anything the world throws at you!
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