The intention of our blog, Vows to Voyage, was never intended to be a platform for rambling or essays without purpose. Of course, we are not traveling as much anymore due to our careers and paths in life. I enjoy blogging. I enjoy sharing our travels and truths/realities that I encounter in life. I hope to continue blogging more this year, and the topics may be geared less on travel and more on our lives together as we move forward with other exciting endeavors. Morgan and my relationship was founded on travel, and we have made a commitment to make this one of our core focuses in life. With that being said, we do have other goals and ambitions, and I want to share those as well. I just want to bring things into perspective for me and others.
This post is about truths. Some truths are great, some are very basic. Some truths are happy, and some are hurtful, scary, or avoided. I tend to unearth and understand most of the truths when I travel and am on the road. Everyone has their own truths or things that they hold dear and certain. These are just mine. As mentioned before, I try to live my life off of 4 main concepts and two of these being radical truth and radical transparency. I try to share exactly what I believe. I don’t want this to be a bullet point post, but rather a conversation on some truths that I find truly real, satisfying, and sometimes tough to discuss.
Life is tough, has always been tough, and will continue to be tough. We need to pick our battles, and focus on what we want to worry about. Hold on to what you love, and just do what you want to do at the end of the day. I was watching a movie the other day, and a husband and wife had bought a van and traveled around the country for a year. They talked about it for 10 years, and every day they found excuses on why they couldn’t do it. One day, she said to herself “What would I do if I wasn’t afraid.” Then she did those things. I always remind myself, there are 7 billion people in this world, who cares what most of them think. I have been all over the world, seen sunrises and sunsets, hiked mountaintops, swam in the oceans, and have done so many things. The world is beautifully and wonderfully made. I just can’t fathom that there is not some higher power behind our planet and the experiences we get to have.
There is never a right time to do anything. If you keep waiting for the right time it will never come. The right time to start a business, to start a family, to travel to the next country. You will always find an excuse that deals with time, money, health. Just do what you want to do, and roll with how it all plays out.
We are all going to die, and it will not be long before this happens. I lost both of my grandparents in the past 9 months. I remember standing at my grandad’s wall where we laid his ashes. It was in a small gravesite at a church with about 20 other capsules in a wall. All of the memories we had with him: the good times at the beach, dinner at the club, golf outings, etc. They were all packaged in a little container and put in a wall. It was sad for me, but the truth. It made me want to live every day to the fullest.
People all over the world are generally good and will help you. I have found this out traveling across the world. Most Americans have the perception that everyone hates us and wants to blow us up. This is just not the case. On our last trip to Jordan, we ate dinner with a Muslim man and discussed 9/11, Donald Trump, and George Bush, and had a civil conversation about the whole thing. We both parted our separate ways, and shook hands at the end of the night.
There is the good stuff in life. The good stuff is the stuff that I sit back and realize that these are the things the really make life worth living. For me it is the first cup of coffee in the morning, the smell of a new country coming off a 14 hour plane flight, or the fog lifting off the river early in the morning when fishing. Everyone has their own good stuff. Just do and have more of it.
I have come to find that 95% of what I have always worried about has never happened. All the stress, lost sleep, and worries about everything from business to health, has never led to anything. 2019 was the year I was to change my relationship with stress, and I have done quite well with this. When is enough, enough? How much money, stuff, cars, homes, etc. do we really need to be happy and content? I have struggled with this like so many other people all over the world. If I can just make another $5000 a month, I can do XYZ. But in the end, we spend more time making money and getting things that we never have time to use in our lives. It’s a tough concept to grasp. Hands down, the most content and happy I have ever been was living off of $20 a day overseas in scenic, calm, tranquil places. There are so many other truths in this world that I have discovered and could share, but just don’t have the time to write a book right now.
One final message, that I feel is important to end this post. Do what you need to do to make you happy. Find your passion in work and life, do those things, and true contentment and happiness will come. Life is too short not to do these things. Be kind to others, worry less, experience more of your good stuff, and enjoy life. I have been at the polar opposite ends of these points, and it was tough for me. Understanding some of these truths has helped me live my life better.
In the coming months, I will be sharing our posts on Israel and Jordan trip from February 2019, and our fall trips to Montana and Paris. Thanks to those who follow and read.
Until next time,
David and Morgan
Vows To Voyage 