Over the past two months, I’ve made it my personal mission to step out of my comfort zone as often as possible. For some, the concept of traveling foreign lands is leaps and bounds from the norm and, for the first few weeks of my trip, it was for me as well. But now, settling into the nomadic lifestyle, I find myself constantly trying to push my boundaries to see just how uncomfortably I can live.
Why do this, you ask? Why push myself to the limits every day?
Easy. Because it’s important. It’s important to challenge yourself and step outside the confines of a comfortable lifestyle, no matter your location or occupation.
I recently came across a passage in Tim Ferriss’ “The 4-Hour Work Week” (note: I’m reading book this incredibly slowly) that relates how the opposite of happiness is not the conventional idea of sadness, but rather boredom, and you should therefore try to do the things that excite you most. It goes further on to say that doing the unrealistic is easier than the realistic. I’m trying my best to apply these concepts to my daily life abroad, and I find them both rewarding and opening a new world of opportunities for me.
For example, last week a group of seven of us hired motorbikes to drive from Hué to the central coastal city of Hoi An. Let me preface by saying I can barely ride a bicycle and have never even attempted anything remotely similar to a motorbike given my usual clumsiness. That, and I wouldn’t exactly classify myself as one of the best drivers back home.
Regardless, we rented bikes and after just 10 minutes of practice, was thrust into Vietnam’s insane motorbike traffic, one of the more chaotic scenes I’ve ever witnessed. After about a half hour of straight road, I eased into operating a motorbike, slowly gaining confidence and taking in the beautiful scenery and adrenaline rush.
It wasn’t until we stopped for an hour-break in a nearby village springs for a swim, that with one sharp turn and a fairly steep downhill, I crashed my bike into a boulder, nearly flipping it and myself into the springs. My bike was rendered undriveable, with a flat tire, wheels out of alignment and a broken rear brake, forcing me to ride on the back of another bike for the rest of the afternoon. My left knee was slightly sprained, I suffered a bit of whiplash and both legs are bruised ugly shades of black and blue, but the accident could have been a lot worse.
After the initial shock, the friends I made the journey with and people I meet asking about the nasty bruises on my legs, wonder if I regret making the trip by motorbike, to which I reply absolutely not. The scenery was stunning; it felt like I was seeing the “real” Vietnam and not just the usual tourist tracks.
Better yet, the thrill of doing something completely petrifying and out of the ordinary, something that scared the living daylights out of me initially — and knowing that I could do it — made every second worthwhile and I would do it all over again in a heartbeat.
Over the next few weeks, I’ll be testing my boundaries even more: finally settling my bank card issues, volunteering in Cambodia and potentially searching for an apartment in Bangkok to settle down for a while. In the meantime, I’ve decided to extend my donations from this post for Haiti and Chile. For every comment on the post, I will donate an additional $1 to the Red Cross to help earthquake efforts in both Haiti and Chile through April 20.
Twitter Updates
hey,
That sucks about the accident, you are ok so it’s just another story. I hope the repairs don’t kill you though. Also read about Laos, that stuff can happen anywhere, I got a staph infection in Indonesia, Swine flu in Vancouver and a dog Bite in Bangkok, still love the places though.
Heal up and watch out if you have open cuts, that’s how I got all “staphy” without having a job.
HAha. Keep being brave and encouraging others to do the same. The invitation is still out there to come get “uncomfortable” with me in Bangkok. I hope you heal quickly.
-Dwight
Oh Sarah! Glad you are ok!
@ Rob – Shabl: I’m definitely not ready to completely write off Laos, don’t worry. I know things can happen anywhere and I’d love to see more of the country some time in the future. See you in Saigon, hopefully!
@Dwight Turner: Definitely planning to get “uncomfortable” for at least a couple months in Bangkok beginning mid-April. Seriously looking forward to it. Wanna help me apartment hunt?!
@Kristen: Thanks! I’m doing fine now and the bruises are FINALLY starting to heal.
Your motorbike story sounds oddly familiar to your skiing story in which…what happened?.. you landed on top of a vehicle. Sounds like a wonderful [and painful] experience. And what is this about apartment shopping in Bangkok???
“Better yet, the thrill of doing something completely petrifying and out of the ordinary, something that scared the living daylights out of me initially — and knowing that I could do it — made every second worthwhile and I would do it all over again in a heartbeat.”
That’s so true! It’s always scary at first, but once you do it, you realize how great it is to do something out of the ordinary!
Kudos to you for surviving your motorbike experience! Just goes to show that the most harm you can get out of doing something out of the ordinary is a few bruises
Sarah,
I am torn whether or not to print this post for your grandmother, but I have. I think she will approve of your adventuresome spirit. Although we all worry about you, I know you are experiencing things that you will remember for a lifetime. Keep safe!!! Anne
Nice post! I love reading about when people step out of their comfort zones. Thanks for sharing your story
I remember I used to be a dreamer and told myself “I’ll do that when…” or “When I save this amount of money I’ll be happy…” Then I realized I was only reading stuff!
My example was when I snowboarded this year for the first time. I was scared to death, but did it anyways. Now, I can’t wait to go back! I may even go during the summer
Keep up the writing! I got referred here by The Middle Finger Project
@Briana – You know me and my clumsiness…it’s not really all that surprising when you think about it. The bruises are almost faded and we need to catch up REALLY soon!
@adam – Traveling really has opened my eyes to the greater harms of always playing it safe rather than taking a risk every once in awhile. It’s rarely ever going to end in an adverse effect and even if it does, at least you can say you tried.
@Anne Fowler – I’m glad someone’s printing my blog for her to keep up with back in Cincinnati. Could you e-mail me your e-mail address and her apartment number? I’d love to send her a postcard and write her a letter.
@Steven Ponec – Welcome aboard and thanks for sharing your story. I’ve never been snowboarding (snow and I don’t mix so well after a minor teenage skiing accident), but it’s still definitely on my list to try. Keep trying new things and thanks for reading!
I agree wholeheartedly – it’s always important to keep pushing yourself past the edge of your comfort zone, or else you won’t continue to grow as a person. People love to ask me if I’ve ‘found’ myself on my travels, but in the end that’s not why I left; instead, it has everything to do with taking on challenges that seem harrowing at first and then looking back in awe to see how far you’ve come. You’ll necessarily broaden the reaches of who you are by doing things you fear. Congrats, and looking forward to meeting up in Bangkok!
Jodi
You should really take Ferris’ suggestions with a grain of salt. Just read the reviews on Amazon, you’ll learn alot of ugly stuff behind this book. Just find his book on Amazon, scroll to reviews, click “Most Helpful First”, you’d be surprised.
@Slava – I certainly do take him with a grain of salt. I tend to align myself more with the likes of Chris Guillebeau’s philosophies; it’s not about less work as much as it is quality work and truly believing in what you’re working on. My goal isn’t to work as little as possible, it’s to work on the things you love.