Balance Baby

S2E11 Embracing Solo Travel: How Leaving My Comfort Zone Transformed My Life

• Harkaren • Season 2 • Episode 11

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How does one transform profound loss into a journey of self-discovery? Inspired by the courage of my late grandpa and a poignant quote from "Eat Pray Love," I embarked on a solo travel adventure that took me across Hawaii, LA, and beyond. From the initial hesitant steps in Maui to a fearless seven-week backpacking expedition through 14 cities in three countries, these experiences not only ignited my passion for travel but also illuminated the joy and freedom of living life on my own terms. Along this journey, I found solace in the kindness of strangers and the unexpected appearance of ladybugs, which affirmed I was on the right path.

Reflecting on these transformative travels, I delve into the profound lessons learned and the beauty encountered at every turn. With each new city and encounter, I was reminded of the importance of seizing the moment and prioritizing personal happiness. As I recount these adventures, I encourage you to overcome fear and hesitation, to take that leap, and embrace your own path to joy and fulfillment. Join me next Wednesday for the season finale as we continue to foster a community of beautiful souls, ready to uplift and inspire each other. Remember, life is all about balance and finding your light.

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Harkaren:

Hello everyone and welcome to Balance Baby, the podcast designed to help you consistently show up as the best version of yourself. My name is Harkaren and I'll be your host. I'll be here every week sharing stories and teaching you techniques to prioritize the only thing we have any control over in this world ourselves. If you're brave enough to leave behind everything familiar and comforting and set out on a truth-seeking journey, either internally or externally, and if you're willing to regard everything that happens to you on that journey as a clue, and if you accept everyone you meet along the way as a teacher, and if you're prepared, most of all, to face and forgive some of the most difficult realities about yourself most difficult realities about yourself then the truth will not be withheld from you. I love this quote from Eat Pray Love. It resonates deeply with me because it captures the essence of what solo traveling has meant in my life. It's about stepping into the unknown, leaving behind comfort zones and embracing the journey of self-discovery and healing.

Harkaren:

For most of my life, I believed that solo adventures were out of my reach. I was with the same partner for all of my 20s and I had decided to marry him, so I thought I had closed the door on experiencing things like living alone or traveling by myself. I'm not the type to regret things, but I had always admired women who lived alone or traveled alone, and thought that was no longer an option for me. However, life works in mysterious ways. My divorce offered me the opportunity to discover these parts of myself, a silver lining. In previous episodes, I've discussed how living alone was essential for my soul's evolution, and I feel the same way about solo traveling. And I feel the same way about solo traveling.

Harkaren:

I didn't travel at all when I was younger. My first time on a plane was when I was 14, on the way to the UK to visit my dad's family, and that was the only international flight I ever took with my parents. For most of my teens and early 20s, I would get homesick even if I was within a few hours of my house. It wasn't until 2014, when I went to Maui for the first time, that I truly got to experience and understand the joy of traveling, and I've been hooked ever since. Since then, I've been to Hawaii a few times, miami, new York, la, japan, singapore, bali, italy, maldives, thailand, malaysia and Australia. I honestly might have missed a few, but you get the point, my love for travel became insatiable.

Harkaren:

Last year I was chatting with my good friend and I was saying how 2023 was going to be a transformative year for me, no matter what I had no say in it. I lost my grandpa, and then, three months later, I lost my dad, but I was determined to end my year on a positive note and I did exactly that when I lost my grandpa. It made me reflect on his journey to Canada. What a step outside of his comfort zone it must have been to uproot his life and move to a foreign country where he didn't know anyone and didn't know the language. Keep in mind, this was all before the internet. There was no way of knowing what to expect other than hearing it from other people or experiencing it for yourself. I knew he hadn't taken such a bold step, only for me to feel unfulfilled in my life. As I processed his passing, I realized that my grandpa's courage had set a powerful example for me.

Harkaren:

Inspired by his journey, I decided it was time to step further outside of my comfort zone and started playing with the idea of leaving Canada for an extended period of time. Whenever I would consider taking this hypothetical trip, I would light up inside. I could feel all the energy swirling within me and it felt like I was glowing from the inside out. Just the thought of this trip was activating the joy within me and I intuitively knew I needed to make it happen. As exciting as the idea was, I couldn't commit to a place or a timeline. Something was causing me to hesitate. But a few weeks later, when I lost my dad, I realized that there was no time to wait. Tomorrow is not promised and we need to experience all that we can while we're able to. To experience all that we can while we're able to.

Harkaren:

My dad's death reminded me that our time on this earth is limited and we should spend as much of it as possible pursuing the things that light us up inside. So I started planning and embracing this new chapter of my life. My main criteria was that I wanted to feel safe alone, I wanted to extend my summer and I wanted to jam-pack as many new experiences as possible. I built an itinerary consisting of 14 cities in 3 countries, traveling for a total of seven weeks. I wanted to challenge myself, so I decided I was only going to take a backpack and I decided that I was going to try to stay in hostels for the first time ever. Since I was already going to be stepping outside of my comfort zone, I thought I should dive right in rather than just dipping my toes. I spent a total of four weeks alone and three weeks with one of my friends. The trip itself turned out to be a thousand times better than I could have ever expected. Instead of eat, pray, love, my trip turned out to be more eat, party, meditate.

Harkaren:

Think about the person you are when you're on vacation Relaxed, laid back, joyful, confident. Now imagine what life would be like if you felt like that all the time. This is the goal. This is what I'm working towards. I embrace my aloneness as complete freedom For many of us. There are very few periods in our life where we are truly alone and can prioritize ourselves. If you're in a relationship, that will take some priority. If you're married, that will take more, and if you have kids, that will take even more.

Harkaren:

Solo travel isn't just about seeing new places. It's a journey inwards. It's about connecting deeply with yourself, understanding your desires, with yourself. Understanding your desires and facing your fears. The benefits extend beyond the travel itself, impacting your overall well-being and personal development. This journey was more than just a series of destinations. It was an exploration of my own resilience. It was an exploration of my own resilience, my self-reliance and my capacity for joy. Before leaving, I had people asking me if I was scared or nervous to go alone, but I trusted myself and I trusted the divine timing of all that was unfolding for me. Staying and missing out on this opportunity scared me way more than going.

Harkaren:

When you're in a foreign country without the safety net of friends and family, you learn to rely on your own instincts and resourcefulness. Traveling solo forces you to embrace the unknown with an open heart. It taught me the power of trusting myself and my intuition and the importance of seeking out experiences that nourish my soul. As I overcame each new challenge, I boosted my self-confidence and reinforced my belief in my own capabilities. Without the influences of others, we can tune into our own desires and preferences and connect deeply with our inner selves deeply with our inner selves. It's a chance to step back from the roles and expectations that define us in our everyday lives and to rediscover who we are at our core. You get to experience versions of yourself that you may have never met before. You learn to release baggage that was never meant to be yours to carry in the first place.

Harkaren:

I had never planned a trip this long before, so I had to spend time figuring out the logistics of where to stay, which transportation to take and what things needed to be pre-booked and what things needed to be pre-booked. I had mapped out an itinerary of where I was going to go, but I left it completely open regarding what I was going to do when I got to each destination. I would decide what to do either when I got there or a few days before arriving in each new city. I wanted to feel a sense of ease and flow. There was nothing I was dead set on seeing or doing. I was just open to whatever experiences presented themselves to me, and I was so thankful.

Harkaren:

I took this approach because it allowed for beautiful synchronicities and unexpected adventures that I could never have planned and, truthfully, strangely, even when I was physically alone, I never truly felt alone. Throughout my trip, there were countless moments where I could sense my dad and grandpa watching over me. I remember strolling through the streets of Portugal and thinking we get to experience this together. In reality, the possibility of walking through Portugal with my dad and grandpa had never existed, but in this way I felt they were there with me, seeing the world through my eyes. They were living vicariously through me, sharing in the adventures and the beauty of each place I visited, the things they never got to experience I was now experiencing for us all. And, of course, the universe sent me signs to confirm that I was in fact walking a path of alignment with my higher self. Not only had I felt my intuition when I initially had the idea of taking the trip Tell me how I planned this trip from scratch, adjusted it as needed and somehow, in every single city I visited, I encountered a ladybug, whether it was souvenirs, a commercial, a window display or a real live ladybug.

Harkaren:

What are the chances of that? As you know from my previous episodes, ladybugs are my symbol of alignment, a sign from the universe that I am on the right path. Seeing them in such diverse and unexpected places reinforces that I was exactly where I needed to be. So what are some of the highlights from this epic trip? Seeing pods of wild dolphins on my way to snorkel in a volcanic crater in São Miguel, which is part of the Azores Islands, off the coast of Portugal.

Harkaren:

Living out a vision I had by biking the coast in Kashkai and having a huge beach all to myself and having a huge beach all to myself, literally everything about Madeira, from the black sand beach to the Porto Maniz natural pools, to completing the most difficult peak-to-peak hike on the island. Or when my friend joined me and we had our first wild night out in Albufeira, a beach town which is part of the Algarve region in southern Portugal. Or when we stumbled across a brand new bar that had only been open for one hour on our way to a flamenco show in Seville. Or segwaying our way through Granada, being in awe of the beauty of Mallorca and the perfectly powdery sandy beaches dancing under rainbow archways in Valencia, taking in the architectural brilliance of Antony Gaudi in Barcelona, seeing the planets and stars from one of the top three stargazing destinations in the world. And my confidence-boosting nudist experience in Tenerife. And every moment of my time in Amsterdam, which I shared with a special guest.

Harkaren:

I cannot stress enough how important it is to solo travel, but if you are truly scared or unsure, just take somebody with you. Just travel. The experiences you gain from exploring the world are invaluable and transformative. Instead of spending money on more clothes or eating out, invest in experiences that expand your horizons and enrich your soul. Traveling allows you to immerse yourself in different cultures and traditions. It broadens your perspective, showing you the beautiful diversity of the world we live in. Every place you visit has its own unique way of life, its own stories and customs, and each one has something to teach you. When you travel, especially to places that are different from what you know, you gain a deeper understanding of humanity. You connect with people who may live very different lives from you, yet you find common ground in shared smiles, stories and kindness. These connections remind you of the universal bonds we all share, no matter where we come from.

Harkaren:

Stepping out of your comfort zone and into the unknown, whether alone or with company, challenges you in ways that staying home simply can't. It pushes you to be resourceful, adaptable and open-minded. Each journey is an opportunity for personal growth, for discovering new versions of yourself and for creating memories that last a lifetime. When you subject yourself to different cultures and traditions, you develop empathy and a broader worldview. You learn to appreciate the beauty in diversity and understand the common threads that weave through all of human experiences. Traveling, especially solo, also brings a profound sense of freedom and self-reliance. You navigate new environments, make decisions on the fly and trust your instincts. This builds a deeper sense of confidence and resilience that impacts all of your life. Thank you so much for tuning in to my 11th episode of season two. Solo travel isn't just about visiting new places. It's also about discovering new parts of yourself. It's about finding courage in the face of the unknown and embracing the adventures that life presents.

Harkaren:

Reflecting on my journey, I realized that it was as much about internal exploration as it was about external adventures. The loss of my grandpa and dad were catalysts pushing me to re-evaluate my life and to seek deeper meaning and fulfillment In honoring their legacies. I stepped out of my comfort zone and embarked on a journey that transformed me in ways I could have never anticipated, anticipated. Every city I visited, every new face I encountered, every unexpected twist and turn along the way was a lesson and a gift. It showed me the beauty of the world and the kindness of strangers. It reinforced the importance of living fully and authentically, pursuing what lights you up from inside.

Harkaren:

Seeing ladybugs in every city was a powerful reminder that I was exactly where I needed to be. They were a confirmation from the universe that I was aligned with my higher self, following a path that was meant for me. Don't let fear or hesitation hold you back from experiencing it. Take that leap, book that ticket and let the journey unfold. I'll see you next Wednesday for the final episode of season two. Together, here we're creating a community of beautiful souls, ready to uplift each other, ready to experience all the joy that this life has to offer us. And don't forget life is all about balance. Baby, balance, baby.