Hey – I’m Brock. I’m just a dude that loves to travel the world to experience different cultures. I have been Solo Traveling since June of 2016. I guess by now you could call me somewhat of an expert on the topic. I have gone places, seen stuff, and experienced things that many people have only dreamed of. I feel very fortunate to have been able to do all that I have done. I’m only just getting started..
In my down time, which I rarely have, I enjoy editing the footage that I have recorded during my travels. Generally, in the travel vlog format. They are all uploaded to YouTube for everyone to see.
Outside of travel, I honestly have no life. Traveling really engulfs 100% of my existence. I eat, sleep, and breathe everything that Solo Travel has to offer. There’s really nothing else that I’d rather be doing. Yes, this is an addiction…but I’m definitely not complaining.
Here’s Where It All Began
Let’s quickly rewind to the age of 26. I had spent the last 9 years, prior to age 26, working as either a photographer, a real estate agent, an online entrepreneur, or involved with auto glass.
Over the years, I always seemed to be interested in content related to my own personal development, and somewhere along the line, I came across an interesting quote by John Lennon:
I found this to be rather profound. I think, at least in western cultures, we focus so much of our energy on materialistic items such as a big house, a fast car, the latest phone, trendy clothes, and well – the list obviously goes on…
But when I read this quote, some part of me started to question everything that I have ever been taught. After pondering this quote on it’s deepest levels, I started to feel as if I had been trained throughout my life to believe that happiness should come from material items rather than from myself. It didn’t take me long to realize that happiness, in fact, is not an external…but internal.
I then challenged myself to determine what would make me the happiest person that I could possibly be. Specifically, what activity could I do everyday and never become bored because of it?
This Would Make Me Happy
Every night for two solid weeks of deep thought, I eventually determined that if I was incredibly wealthy or incredibly poor – the one activity that would make me happy would be traveling the world and experiencing different cultures.
I couldn’t imagine how amazing this would feel. Traveling every couple of days to a new city, town, village, or even a different country! Being able to meet people from all different walks of life who are all interested in sharing their culture and way of life with me. Trying new foods, seeing new sights, hearing new languages, observing new behaviors. This would be the most amaz…
*STOP* Reality suddenly kicked in. This is all nonsense. I am dreaming about a hypothetical and fictitious reality that only the luckiest people in the world get to do. Clearly, I am not one of those people..there is just too much to lose if I quit my job and leave everything behind. I want to…but..
Your Time Has Value
Fast forward another 3 months or so, I stumbled across another piece of information which started to rekindle my fire. I was reminded that time is the most valuable commodity that any person has.
The logic looks something like this: I give you $1,000 USD, I can earn more or get it back in the future – so no problem. But if I give you any amount of time; an hour, a day, a month, or even a year – I can never get it back. Ever. It is the one thing that we can never get more of after we spend it. Time is something that is free, but yet at the same time, priceless. We must choose how we spend our time, wisely.
What If?
Believe it or not, within the same week, I heard this for the first time:
Immediately after hearing this, my mind went into a frenzy. My heart rate increased, my breath deepened, my palms turned sweaty – I became overwhelmed with a deep sense of fear.
All I could think about at that moment, was the future. The question of “what if?” What will my life be like if I continue down the same pathway that I have been for the last 9 years?
I envisioned being a slave to my job, working every day to pay for things that I didn’t actually own – such as a car or a house, never being able to travel the world, never getting to meet locals in a foreign country, never being able to experience other cultures…the list just kept getting bigger and bigger. I could see that it all boiled down to not having enough time freedom…. I had reached a mental wall, and knew that if I wanted any shot at true happiness – then I needed to change…and fast.
The Straw That Broke The Camel’s Back
For the next couple of weeks that phrase stuck with me…and I mean really stuck with me. I couldn’t get it out of my head. I became obsessed with it…or maybe it became obsessed with me..
I remember starting to develop a very deep fear of future regret. I started to envision myself as a 65 year old man. In these thoughts, I had enough money and time freedom to travel due to retirement, but my poor health would prevent me from actually going out to enjoy what I have always dreamed of. The more I thought about it, the more it terrified me.
A couple more weeks went by. All I kept thinking about was; the repetition of doing the same thing over and over again at work, my limited amount of time on planet Earth, my overall happiness, and my regret of never living out my true passion. This haunted me to the point where I barely had enough motivation to get out of bed. Literally, it was bad.
I knew what I wanted, but choosing to quit my job, sell my car, donate everything to charity, and literally walk away from everything that I have ever known was going to be an incredibly difficult and calculated decision to make…that is until I read this:
*BOOM* It was literally like my soul was was suddenly struck by lightning or hit by a freight train! My fear of future regret became very real, in a heartbeat. It was at that very moment when I realized that there is nothing more important than my own happiness – and that nothing or no one will stop me from achieving it!
I grew confident in the matter of seconds.
My fear of long-term regret by not living my passion completely and unanimously outweighed my temporary fear of quitting my job and starting something new.
I realized that I did not need a house, I do not need a car, I do not need the latest high-tech equipment, I do not need to have the latest clothes, and I certainly don’t need to give in to the pressures of society to feel as if I need to obtain those things. I only want to travel.
It was in that very same minute that I committed to myself to actually start living my passion. I would either make it happen, or die trying.
It was at the beginning of 2015 that I made it a goal to save as much money as I could before the end of the year. I ended up saving a bit under $20,000 to start my adventure. Before I knew it, it was time to get on a plane and start the adventure that would change my life forever.
Solo Traveling Has Been Magical
It is nearly impossible for me to describe how absolutely amazing my life has been since my journey began. I have been doing everything that I had wanted so badly. I traveled to multiple countries, met thousands of people, made hundreds of friends, seen some of the most breathtaking landscapes, swam in some of the most famous rivers, and became the one and only controller of my time.
There are so many things about solo traveling that makes it magical. I encourage everyone to experience it at least once. The sense of freedom that we feel when we ditch the desk and venture out into the unknown is, literally, unsurpassable.
The Birth of SoloTraveling365
Since the start of my solo traveling journey, I have learned a wealth of information. SoloTravel365 was created to provide tips, tricks, help, knowledge, and inspiration to future (or even current) solo travelers. This site will help people understand the ins-and-outs of solo traveling and prepare you for what’s to come – if you read through a lot of this content, you will be much more prepared than I ever was.
- Side Note: Somewhere about a year into my solo traveling journey, the phrase “Time is running out, start living” was born. It has a deep connection to the above story.
Thanks for reading!
-Brock
