Travel Story – How Eglė never just packed her bags, quit her career and left everything behind

Who am I

This is my story of how I never just packed my bags, quit my career and left everything behind. How I never saved very hard, sold my house and bought a one way ticket.

I am very ordinary.  Just a young woman in her 20s trying to prove herself at her (hopefully successful) career. Going for a run from time to time. Enjoying a good book in the evenings and a glass of wine now and then. Dreaming of climbing up a property ladder one day.  Maybe the rest, you know. And yes, I never took the decision to leave everything behind. And sadly, probably never will.

And yet often, much more than I would actually like to, I find myself daydreaming about the places I have never been to. I catch my mind wondering what’s the life like in New Zealand or picture myself wandering in the beautiful lands of Patagonia. When I hear a foreign language, I cannot help myself but praise the humankind and wonder how these sounds which have no sense to me can convert into meaningful messages to others. I find myself transforming into a 20th century French woman when I read a novel about the Second World War. My soul travels quicker than speed of light when I listen to some good old jazz. All in all, my mind keeps jumping. I am in a constant need of exploration.

The different perspective

The media is rather full of stories of people who leave everything behind, digital nomads, bloggers and social influencers (a job title I do not fully understand). Quitting your routine and traveling around the world became a some sort of new fashionable movement, the new way to live. And I must say, I admire those who take this step. But sadly, my desire for exploring the world does not win over the combination of my academic and career ambitions, love for family, and in some sense, although rather ironically, the fear of losing stability.

Quitting your routine and traveling around the world became a some sort of new fashionable movement, the new way to live.

Although a part of me dreams of a very adventurous life, I also believe in the beauty of routine. As much as I enjoy meeting new people and enriching my mindset by getting to know different cultures, I love seeing the friends I cherish the most. And yes, living in Brazil and listening to my beloved Samba rhythms sounds very idealistic, but I could not move to another side of the world and miss the chance to see my beautiful family as often as I do now.

As much as I enjoy meeting new people and enriching my mindset by getting to know different cultures, I love seeing the friends I cherish the most.

The truth is, I know that I am not the only one. If you find yourself doubting your life choices and your priorities; if you keep wondering whether the choices you make today will lead you to a happier life; if you are not even sure any more what happy life is – you are not the only one.

My last big trip

I went to Portugal in August on my own to explore the beauty of the country, to get to know their culture, history and the people. I wanted to clear my mind and to spend three weeks free of myself and of my usual world.

I went to 15 locations, took 10 bus journeys, 9 trains, 4 metros and 2 planes. I met 56 new people and read 700 book pages. Walked probably hundreds of miles, sometimes with two backpacks of both sides of my body.I learnt how to surf in the Atlantic, I swam under waterfall in Gerês, tasted local wine in Douro Valley, danced in Porto, fell in love with fado in Lisbon, and sunbathed in Algarve.

I found what I was looking for without looking for anything. I had the best time of my life. Obrigada, Portugal.

I would like to invite you to travel with me in Portugal for the next few minutes:

Why I travel alone

‘But why?’, ‘Are you not afraid?’, ‘Don’t you feel lonely?’, ‘You are crazy!’ These are the standard questions and remarks I often get when I mention that I am going on a trip alone. The world, at least the big part of my world I live in, does not seem to understand my choice.

1. I travel alone because it makes me feel free. Once you manage to leave your comfort zone and the correct way of life that the society may have imposed on you, you learn that, in fact, everything you need fits into a backpack. Besides leaving your belongings at home, you also leave your worries and their expectations, your problems and their suggestions on how to solve them.
2. I travel alone because it is the only true way to escape my daily routine. I happen to be cursed to have multiple and often rather opposite goals, and probably multiple personalities in a way. I find that traveling alone is the best way to escape the routine and the life that the other side of me chose to live.
3. I travel alone because nobody tells me what to do. Imagine having the entire freedom to do absolutely what you want. Imagine nobody around you to judge your choice.
4. I travel alone because it’s the best way to explore the world. When it comes to the depths of exploring the world, nothing beats solo travel for me. You are there, on your own, exposed to the beauty, culture, history and the foreign way of life without anyone besides you shaping your mind. You are much more open minded, and you have all the time to focus on the environment and to notice the details. You are also more fragile, and this fragility allows you to connect to the environment and to get one step closer to understanding it.
5. I travel alone because it is also the best way to discover who I am. I learn that the world is different than I probably thought, and these experiences when travelling and people I meet make me question which part of me is real and which was influenced by my upbringings, environment and education. I see the things I have not seen before, and I question them.
6. I travel alone because I choose to. And my last answer to ‘why?’ is because I choose to. I want to travel alone. It is my choice. I do have some absolutely great friends (you know who you are), fantastic family and plenty of people I know I could message ‘Feel like going to…?‘ But the reasons listed above probably by now have convinced you that traveling alone is a choice.

The places I have seen and the people I have met make me want to learn more and to know more. To speak more foreign languages and to get to know more cultures. To lead a healthier lifestyle and to exercise more. To collect my travel memories and to reflect on them in my ‘real’ life. To be less judgmental and more positive, more welcoming. To stop chasing some hypothetical material goals for the ‘good future’ and to appreciate everything I have now and the world I have managed to build. The places I have seen help me cherish my homeland, and the time being alone just strengthens my love for the ones I care about the most. I think it makes me a better person.

If you enjoy this little essay of mine, you can find more of my thoughts on eglesworld.com. If you enjoy these snaps of mine, you can find more on @egleskl Instagram account.

Thank you.

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