I Am Going: A Trip Beyond the Comfort Zone

When a trip isn’t what you expect it to be…what do you do?

This post comes from our friend Liz Morrow

When people ask about my trip to Paris, my truly honest response is: it was a lot of things. Some of those things weren’t necessarily positive, but no one really wants to hear that. They want to hear that you had the time of your life and you didn’t want to leave and that everything was magical. And perhaps for some people it is but, for me, this time, it was not.

I love travel. I consider myself pretty pro. Growing up in Alaska, going anywhere meant flying there. Or road-tripping for about a week. My first solo flight took place when I was in 6th grade (I think) — I was so used to flying that I didn’t realize that traveling as an unaccompanied minor was different. I filed off the plane with the rest of the passengers, met up with my mom at the gate and we went on our merry way until the panicked flight attendants caught up with us and confirmed that I was leaving with the proper guardian. I’ve flown to countless cities and road-tripped from Alaska to Florida, and back to Washington State, all solo.

As an international traveler, however, my experience is a little lacking. I once visited Guatemala  with a high school group, but I don’t really count that — we we were mindlessly shuttled around and I didn’t have to figure out a thing. It wasn’t for lack of desire. I was all set to attend the American University in Cairo for a month, but my passport and student visa didn’t arrive before my flight, so I cancelled the whole thing (a boyfriend may have also been responsible for my wanting to stay at home — lame). As a result, I was able to book a new flight to London, but I also skipped out on that trip, for reasons I don’t remember but can probably attribute to aforementioned boyfriend. Years before that, my entire family had planned a huge trip to Europe, but my grandma was involved in a serious car accident the day before our departure. Another trip cancelled.

So, when I stumbled upon a super cheap flight to Paris a few months ago, I heeded the words of Clarissa Pinkola Estes via Women Who Run With the Wolves: “‘I am going.’ These are the best words ever. Say them, then go.” I booked the flight for my birthday…renewed my passport. It felt like something I needed to do. Travel in the US no longer pushed me out of my comfort zone, and I needed to find something that did. I needed to prove to myself that I could. That I could do something brave. Many things, like traveling cross-country in a 1973 Winnebago Brave, by myself, might look brave to outsiders but, to me, felt squarely inside my comfort zone. International travel, though…definitely outside the zone, in what a friend once called the “growth zone.”

I researched like a crazy person. I tried my best to re-learn the French I learned in high school. My husband Dan drove me to the airport on that chilly morning, and I kissed him goodbye and got on the plane.

It was hard. I’m a solid introvert but, being alone in a foreign country, not able to speak the language, with no one to share the experience…that was difficult. The jet lag was brutal, and I didn’t do many of the things I hoped to. The language barrier gave me so much anxiety. I spent half a day hidden in my Airbnb watching Netflix and crying. But after getting some much-needed encouragement from friends, I pulled myself together — even just for my last days in Paris — and found freedom from the pressure of having The Best Time Ever. I read my book in a cafe while enjoying my petit dejeuner, walked around the Musee D’Orsay, and ate a Nutella-filled crepe under the Eiffel Tower. I realized that I didn’t have to fit everything this very trip. I didn’t have to have The Best Time Ever, because there could and would be other times. I could visit again with Dan, or a friend, and be able to laugh and talk and share with someone.

I’m glad I went. I broke through the “thing” that prevented me from traveling abroad. I opened myself up to the universe, letting it know that my passport was broken in and ready to go. I already have tickets to Iceland and Ireland (and maybe Paris again) for 2016. Elizabeth Gilbert writes in her book Big Magic about ideas being sentient beings, on the lookout for people who are available and willing to take them on.

One of my personal and professional dreams was to travel more, both domestically and internationally, for work and self-enrichment. I was tired of waiting around for it to happen to me, and this trip to Paris was my stake in the ground. “I’m here. I’m ready to go. I’ve got my passport in hand!” As soon as I made that mental shift, the universe shifted with it. Doors started opening. Little doors, but doors nonetheless. So, even if my Paris visit wasn’t the Best Most Magical Trip Ever, it was, for me, a little flag waving wildly, signaling my readiness with bags packed. My comfort zone is a little bit bigger now, too.

“I am going…” Those are the best words. Say them, then go.

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Be sure to visit Liz’s website and follow her on Instagram

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8 years ago

A very inspiring text for everyone who loves to travel. I know that pressure to make everything perfect in a vacation very well! Wonderful photos by the way.
https://www.makeandmess.com/

Gabby
8 years ago

This really strikes a cord with me! I’m from NJ and I just booked a trip to CA for the end of the month. The farthest west I’ve ever been is PA so this was a huge step for me. I kept thinking over and over that I wouldn’t be able to pull it off, financially and mentally. But I did, once I told myself that it would happen, it just did! Doors opened for me and everything fell into place. I’m so happy I booked that trip now :)

8 years ago

Stunning photos! http://www.thepaarblog.com/

abhi
8 years ago

Scare little girl, so scare that everywhere you go, what ever you do, you cannot come alive.
You are leaving in your elite comfort zone in your mind, searching permanently security.
You are blinded by believing; that you are american, wealthy, and pretty.
Wake up princess this is earth and you great mind is sooo limited.

8 years ago

Love your post. It is true that sometimes the popular expectation when travelling is to see and do it all. That is not necessarily how I like to travel. I went to Paris last year and when people ask me if I visited the Louve or other things and I say no, it’s almost like I let them down. However, I had been to Paris a few times before and this was the opportunity for me to bask in the city, strolling is one of my favourite, and it is typically Parisian if you think about some great French romantic writers!

I like how you say that there is always the opportunity to go back and see/do more. One of my companion during my first travel in Europe wanted to see everything everywhere because she said she wouldn’t have the chance to come back again. This attitude is so depressing!

On my part, I knew i would be back, and I did!

8 years ago

I’m an Aussie living in Paris. As I say to people, in the end Paris is just a big city full of people just living their lives. I dragged my disability of quadriplegia here to challenge myself, barely spoke the language and spent quite a few months very confused!

I think you are spot on about taking pressure off to have the Best Time Ever.

Your photos are at odds with your thoughts though. It’s no wonder people have skewed expectations when all they see is pretty pictures.

The Japanese embassy here has a hotline to ‘rescue’ their citizens whose image of Paris didn’t match their reality. Seriously.

8 years ago

I love this post, and your honesty. A lot of times we romanticize the “just go” mentality, and while it’s great, it also fails to mention that it can be crazy hard, wearying, and anxiety inducing. Not every part of the trip, certainly, but some, and I love how you wrote that you took the pressure off yourself for having the “best time ever” and realised you just have to go with it.
I studied abroad for a year in Northern Ireland and am moving back to the republic of Ireland in 2 weeks. I always tell people to “just go” when you’re given the opportunity, but so many are held back and I wish they could see how, even though I had to endure some of the hardest days of my life, they were all incredibly worth it and I’m moving back again despite the challenges. Worth it to pick up, go, and face it head on.

8 years ago

Have you had the chance to go to Cairo since?
The university has the most beautiful campus, it is a complete juxtaposition to the rest of the city once you leave it. Having said that, I spent 4 of the best years of my life in Cairo so you should definitely try to go again one day!

http://mugamara.blogspot.com

Bonnie
7 years ago

What an inspiring article! This resonates with me as an introvert whose stuck in her comfort zone, and saying yes all the time has become an important goal. love this article, very true to heart.

Anonymous
7 years ago

this is me right now. impulsively booked a trip to paris for my 50th birthday. I have never been out of the us. I don’t speak the language at all. it is a real stretch so I am grateful for the article, in advance, to keep my perspective. thank you!