Anger and Fear Led Me to Travel the World
How two unpleasant emotions became the driving force behind my traveling experiences
The best periods of my life always came after a period of getting absolutely fed up with the lack of progress I was making. — Dan Koe
When I first read this quote from the famous content creator Dan Koe, it resonated with something I had experienced years before.
I had just moved from Italy to Portugal to start a Master’s Degree, following a year-long study program undertaken during my Bachelor’s in the same country.
A few months into my studies, I found myself already browsing the exchange opportunities page on my university’s website with awe.
One option particularly fascinated me: a year-long exchange at a university in Latin America!
The following night, I talked with my mother over the phone about the opportunity I had laid my eyes on.
She got mad: “You have just moved to another country, and here you are already thinking about going elsewhere!”
From a parent’s perspective, she wasn’t wrong.
I seemed to find no peace, and even if the program entailed a scholarship, I had been relying on my parents’ financial support for my university years — something very common in Southern Europe.
With some disappointment, I put aside the plan and tried to extinguish the fire inside me that was calling me to always chase the unknown and decided to enjoy my experience in Portugal mindfully.
After a few months, I discovered that a university colleague in my class was about to set off for a year abroad: he had just won the Latin America scholarship!
I felt a shiver of jealousy running through my spine.
I started questioning,
“Will I ever have other opportunities, or did I just miss my train?”
My fears of ‘not being able to travel enough’ grew
I began to worry that I wouldn’t have opportunities to travel more and got mad at myself for putting aside my ideas and being reliant on my parents.
In the meantime, the jealousy I felt for my friend had subsided, and it was enjoyable to listen to his adventures in Lima, Peru.
In Portugal, after all, I wasn’t doing bad either.
Those years became the most meaningful of my life, and I certainly didn’t let the time go by without making the most out of it.
However, the following year, the burning fire of travel came to wake me up again.
This time, I would have done anything in my power to listen to it.
I started researching opportunities to travel abroad that I could afford as a broke student
After a few months, I ran into a 10-day fully funded exchange on the topics I was studying in Master’s program, such as the integration of ethnic minorities, with people coming from 5 other countries.
The exchange would have taken a place in a country I had never considered before — Georgia!
Ten minutes went by, and I had sent in my application.
After a few days, I was informed that my application was successful. I would have traveled to Georgia soon and spent there 10 days deepening topics I was passionate about.
A dream coming true!
Georgia ended up being a wonderful, intense experience — the kind whose sweet memory and impact would eventually lead me to choose a digital nomad lifestyle a few years later.
After that, I decided that nobody would come between me and my desire for traveling.
I needed to do something to gain more independence.
I started working at a restaurant to fund my next trip
After my journey to Georgia, I decided that, even as a full-time student, I would find a job that allowed me to work a few hours at night to fund, at least partially, my next adventure.
I began working at a restaurant almost every night.
In the meantime, I looked for other funded opportunities.
After a month or two, I found a volunteering program that covered food and accommodations (where you lived with a local family), but you were responsible for covering your flight and other expenses.
That was exactly what I was looking for!
A few months later, during my university summer break, I found myself in Brazil volunteering at a public school and living with a caring, local family.
That year, I came back to Portugal from Brazil with a full heart
…feeling that my travel yearning was being properly nourished.
However, instead of placating my desires, traveling was fueling the fire.
Surprisingly, even my fear of ‘falling behind,’ that is, the fear of not traveling enough ‘in life,’ was still present!
Like a determined adventurer, I continued searching for opportunities, though this pursuit never prevented me from fully enjoying the present.
In the following year, 2019, I made the decision to vacate my room in Lisbon before the summer and embark on a 10-day trip through Extremadura in Western Spain.
During this journey, I planned to stay in hostels, work on my Master’s thesis, and rely solely on bus travel.
Afterward, I returned to Portugal for a brief period, couch-surfing at friends’ places, and then headed back to Italy before embarking on a new adventure — a traineeship placement in the United Kingdom!
That was only 2019, and while my anger for my status quo and fear of not traveling enough subsided, I haven’t stopped traveling and challenging myself with new experiences ever since (except during the COVID-19 pandemic).
Questions for the readers 🌱
Have you ever turned seemingly negative emotions, like frustration or disappointment, into fuel for achieving a goal?
…Or have you ever transformed a setback or failure into a valuable learning experience or opportunity for growth? How did it shape your journey?
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This is all wonderful, well said. I too have seen the biggest times of growth and change come after being fed up with lack of progress.
These days I’m trying to figure out how to get the change and growth without the fed up part. Sounds like the holy grail!