When Eliza let go of fear and went on the trip she was so nervous about, she finally realized her own strength.
Eliza's Story
"I think my biggest fear was just fear of the unknown."
I was going on my first big international assignment, a three-week trip to Costa Rica. I knew about it a year in advance, but I just put it out of my mind. I was afraid even thinking about it, so I wasn't really preparing myself mentally. I was doing a ton of research for the work I was going to be doing when I was down there, but I put off preparing for the actual act of travel until the very end.
I was leaving in winter and going to this jungle-like, hot place. There were going to be changes. I was leaving my boyfriend, my friends, my job. It was a big trip, and I was nervous about putting everything on hold. I worked really hard to get my personal and professional life in order before I left town, so in the weeks before I left I was working the longest hours and feeling the most pressure out of any time in my entire life.
"I knew that I was going to be thrown into a situation that would be really challenging, and I'd have to either sink or swim."
I was going to be working really hard with people I didn't know very well, navigating this different culture and using a different language. I was worried about how the food was going to taste. I was worried that people were going to laugh at me because of how I spoke the language. There wasn't any way to imagine what it would be like because I didn't have anything to compare it to.
"As soon as I got on that plane, all the anxieties, panic and fear just went away."
I somehow intuitively realized that those negative things weren't going to help me. I stopped worrying about the emails I was missing and not getting to see my boyfriend every night, and I started soaking in the wonderful opportunity to travel abroad.
"People were delighted to hear me trying to get by on their language."
I was taking Spanish lessons and getting better, hoping that I'd be able to get by and people would find me endearing and not ridiculous. Once I got there, it was no big deal. They thought I was adorable, not stupid like I'd feared, and they worked with me. You pick things up just being there, and it was a lot easier than I ever thought it would be.
"I realized that I want to push myself to do the things that scare me to death."
It sounds kind of pat and simple, but it is so true. Anytime you are presented with an opportunity that scares you, and you feel like you can't do it, you need to go for it. That strategy has been so successful for me, especially with this trip. It was life changing and one of the best experiences I have ever had. With all of the stress and pressure I had before I went, the results were so much better than that pressure. I would do it again in a heart beat.
I've had a lot of friends who tell me that they can't imagine living in another country. They are afraid of missing out on things back home, or afraid of missing people that they love, or just plain scared of traveling. But when you leave this country, you realize how much you have been missing. There is a whole world out there.
"Traveling has made me a stronger person."
Now, daily challenges that seemed so difficult before are a lot simpler. I tell myself, ŗI navigated that crazy, difficult trip, so I can handle this little problem." That is a really great advantage of pushing yourself to go through a travel experience that you are nervous about. It can give you a new, level fortitude and strength that you might not have had before.