“Oh I wish I could Travel as much as you but I cannot because 

• I do not have enough money
• I have kids to take care of 
• It will impact my resume
• I am not sure how safe it is to go travelling
• My parents will never allow me “

Reasons that I often hear from friends,family, acquaintances, tourists and other general people I have met. And at certain point in time some in the list were a part of my excuses as well. (Yes. ‘Excuses’!  Now that I am a lot more traveled than previously, I would the myself a bit more wiser I would call them so)

Welcome to the Travel More Live, More Series. As I announced here I am going to share with you advice, tips, experiences on how you too could travel a lot more than what you are currently, if not long term. And this if my first post in the series which talks about Overcoming personal barriers to travel more.

Okay, I apologise. I should not have called them ‘excuses’. Just because am a bit more experienced I do not have any right to call them so. I need to remind myself that a year back or so even I harboured the same ‘reasons’. I AM SORRY. PLEASE FORGIVE ME.

Now that we’ve made our peace, lets call them ‘barriers’, shall we? Obstacles?  Because if  there was ever a way to tackle them would go ahead and hit the road more often that today? Yes?

At the same time we need to realise that these are indeed barriers that we have set up against ourselves. Brought up in a society that promotes having a ‘settled’ life - Do well in STudies, Get a Job, Get Married, Have Kids, Retire Rich. A system that has always taught is to delay gratification. “Do your homework now and you may get an ice-cream later.” “Work hard  at your job today so that you retire rich”

Fuelled, of course by the consumerist society that lies at the opposite end of the spectrum providing instant  pizzas, burgers et al. Get a car delivered to your house in 24 hours. Get a loan to buy that car in less than 2 hours.

And caught in this very web of instant and delayed gratification we end up doing what the famous actor Will Smith quoted

Source :Quotesfactory.com

“So instant gratification does not work. Delayed gratification is useless. So what’s the point? You’ve confused me further?” Did I? Great! Then we’re on our path to the first point on the way to our dreams

There is a quote doing rounds on the internet that I recently picked up “Good things come to those who wait. Good things come to those who work their asses off and never give up“. Yes, That is our first milestone. Take any successful sportsman, businessman or an artist. They’ve all had to pun in tremendous efforts to fulfill their dreams. You are no exception. If you are not ready to put in the required energies then you better stop reading this now and get back to something you feel to be worthwhile.

HARDWORK IS A MUST!

And overcoming your personal barriers is one hell of a job.

But despite the hardwork you are prepared to put in, you might come to a point in your journey where you might not have a clue or all your efforts may fail. And that will be the crucial time that will break you or make you.

Its important to realize that its okay to not have a clue or its equally okay to fail. When I first had the though of quitting my job and going travelling I thought, “I am the only person with such an idea. I must be crazy. Its impossible to do that.” I was naive to think so. But reading about fellow bloggers provided me inspiration I needed. And when I decided to start this blog I had all the help. The lesson to be learnt here is

BE HUMBLE ENOUGH TO ASK FOR HELP!

And if your efforts do not bring in the desired results, do not lose hearts. Failure is a part and parcel of success. If you have have failed, it means you have tried. Which is more important. And do not lose focus and try once again. If you give it up then, then that will be the greatest regrets in life.

Source : Quotesbuddy.com

So never ever stop believing and for God’sake

DO NOT QUIT!

And one day if you bear in mind, all that has been said above by numerous other people far greater than myself you will definitely be living your dreams.

And yes, I know you are thinking, ” You know what? We already know all this shit! Numerous motivational lectures, self help books have told us the same thing. Whats so different?. Where are those practical pieces of advice about the reasons we gave you” Yes, I agree. And you may be surprised to know that even I thought the same once upon a time. But now I cannot reinforce the importance of the above in overcoming your inner fears and obstacles. And therefore, at the very outset I wanted to make these points very clear. At the risk of sounding preachy.

As for the practical nuggets, I will reveal them all in my posts to come over the next few weeks. For now, I want you to if you are really prepared to rise to the challenges I talked. And may be think about what are the other real life issues that stand between you and your dreams. Leave a comment and let me know!

Last updated by Venkat Ganesh at October 27, 2021.