Update: Hey everyone, I am back, and with good news! I may have gotten behind on writing reviews and summaries but I can say that I have not fallen behind on books, so over the next few days be looking for posts about the books I’ve been reading for the past month. That means I’m still on my goal to read a book a week. I also have some exciting things coming up in the near future, one of which you will be learning about below. Anyway, happy reading!

An Innocent Abroad

Adventure, Danger, Romance and Novelty.

That’s what traveling is all about isn’t it? Getting out of your comfort zones and really experiencing life. Personally I have never yet been out of the country. But that’s about to all change in a couple short weeks as I prepare for my first international trip, alone… My destination: Indonesia.

I have to be honest, the thought of traveling alone at first was really unnerving. I would be in a totally strange place on the far side of the planet with no comforts of certainty to lean upon. After reading this book, I have more or less come to terms with traveling alone. Actually my greatest fear about traveling has turned into shear excitement. Really there’s nothing more exhilarating than getting out of your comfort zone. I am so actually stoked to be in a completely strange place on the far side of the planet with foods I have never even seen much less experienced, exciting new landscapes and amazing new people to boot.

From talking to people who have traveled much of their life and reading the stories in An Innocent Abroad, there seems to be a consensus that traveling the world is one of the most rewarding things a person can do. Not only do you learn so much that you would have never learned before but you also make amazing new friends and gain new experiences. I believe it can open up your third eye – allow you to see things beyond the visible and tangible. Travel can change your life.

“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime.”

~Mark Twain~

It has always amazed me at the number of people who have never traveled pretty much anywhere in their life. I’ve known people who have lived in the same town in the same neighborhood doing the same thing for practically their entire life. First of all, Cheers to them for sticking with a routine for that long. But as much as we need certainty in our lives, we also need uncertainty, variety. After all, variety is the spice of life isn’t it? For me personally, I can’t stand the thought of doing the same thing day in and day out all of my life. That just doesn’t suit me. I like to learn and I love a good adventure.

I think that many people don’t travel because they are afraid. They don’t like getting out of their comfort zones. They don’t have much experience in stepping outside their bubble. We as humans tend to take the path of least resistance and stepping outside our normal pattern is not generally something we like to do. But I firmly believe that no growth happens inside comfort zones. In fact, anything new and challenging is a step outside that bubble and a step towards massive growth. I love this TEDx talk all about How To Crush Your Comfort Zone. We are encouraged, all of us, to do one thing daily that is outside our comfort zone.

For those of you reading this, I encourage, no…I deeply implore you to step out of your routine and mix it up with world travel. Traveling may seem expensive, but it can be done cheaply and just about everybody can tell you that travel is worth far more than what you pay. If you have traveled or have a great story about crushing a comfort zone, please share it below. I’d love to hear your experiences!

To get a copy of An Innocent Abroad, click here!

Happy Reading!