3 Risks That Will Always Be Worth Taking

By the time you’re reading this, my family and I are probably somewhere in Asia. Yesterday, we strapped on our backpacks, boarded a plane, and started our year-long adventure of traveling around the world. This has been years in the making for us, so it’s a bit of a dream come true that we’re finally doing it and not just talking about it. We honestly weren’t sure this would ever happen.

But even though this is a dream come true, we’re still nervous.

There are tons of unknowns on the horizon, and we’d be naive to think there wouldn’t be otherwise. I’ve come to learn that the best dreams come with risks, because that’s what brings forth change—allowing something new and different in our lives will always involve risk.

Here are just a few of the risks I’m nervous about:

1. I’m nervous about trying new things.

It’s a bit of a risk, putting three kids under age 10 on a plane and asking them to try new things–and then trying my darndest to do the same. I actually thrive on change, but typically when it’s on my watch, under my control. If you’ve spent any time traveling overseas, you know how seldom you’re actually in control.

I admit I’m a bit hesitant to try unidentifiable fried stuff-on-a-stick in Asia. There’s a risk to walking through Australian rainforests (have you seen the size of their spiders?). And I don’t doubt for a second it’ll be a challenge to take a 4-year-old to Machu Picchu.

And I’m sure we’ll encounter the unexpected in Ethiopia, in Lebanon, in Denmark, and beyond.

But know what makes me more nervous?

The thought of going there and not risking new things at all. Of preaching the benefits of risk to my kids but not modeling it personally. Sure, we’ll be safe and responsible. But it’s dangerous to live a life that’s too safe, I think. It doesn’t allow me to open myself to potential betterment.

2. I’m nervous about living with less.

I really am a big believer in minimalism; I write a blog about simple living, after all. But that doesn’t mean living out of a backpack for a year—with three kids—isn’t going to stretch me.

A friend of mine took her family around the world in 2013, and she told me how sick she was of her three t-shirts by month nine. I can’t even imagine. But I will soon.

I’m equally excited about the freedom living out of a backpack will bring, but there’s still a nervousness about the unknown, for sure.

3. I’m nervous about believing everything has to be exciting.

This trip isn’t technically a vacation for us. In the purest sense, my husband and I can both work from anywhere, so we’re taking our jobs with us. We’re also worldschooling our kids from the road, and we’re purposely traveling slow so that we have time to breathe, unpack a bit, and dive in the cultural deep end when it’s possible.

*Photo Credit: Lacey Raper, Creative Commons

But, c’mon… Night markets in Thailand? Safaris? The Dalmatian Coast? The Great Wall? It’s pretty amazing to experience this in one trip, and it humbles us to no end that this adventure is even possible. Yet I know me, and I know I’m easily tempted to swat away the mundane as though it’s in the way of a more exciting life.

But the majority of life is mundane.

And that’s ok. That’s more than okay.

Our stories are chock-full of laundry folding and meeting with friends over dinner in backyards and helping with homework. This is where the refining happens, most of the time. And it’s all too easy for me to wish that away, to wait for the next Big Thing instead of relishing the here and now.

In fact, as I’m writing this post in a coffee shop, a friend came over to say hi. He asked how trip prep is going, so I filled him in on some of our plans for the first few months. His response?

“You know, it’s gonna be really hard to come back. It’ll feel so ordinary.”

He’s not wrong. I need a solid dose of remembering that God is both in the waterfalls and the kitchen sink.

Our plan is to jump into the unknown this next year, and find a new way to climb on to more predictable, solid ground when we return. There’s no doubt we’re swimming in the deep end right now, somewhere in China.

3 Risks That Will Always Be Worth Taking is a post from: Storyline Blog