At least that was true for me. Being overweight all of my adult life made traveling by plane up anxiety and fear. The fear of waking up late and missing the plane, since I’m NOT a morning person. The fear of not fitting the seats or seat belts. That has really happened to me several times since today you don’t need to be morbidly obsease to not fit on an airplane. 

What was my solution to this fear? Drive! Pack up the car and go.

This is just one of the reasons my husband and I started driving everywhere. There are a lot of freedoms to driving we love as well but that’s for another article…

So for me my anxiety for traveling solo was a show stopper. I’ve only flown once by myself and I was meeting people at a conference and ended up on a plane full of people I knew flying out of Fargo (it’s not a big airport). The next time flying solo will be in a few weeks. This March, I will be flying to meet Mike in Orlando for a conference. This time isn’t not shrouded in fear since I’ve lost 65+lbs and I know I’ll fit in the seats! I’ll be flying from Pensacola FL or Orlando. Super short flight but for some reason more expensive than Mike’s flight!

When I hear my cousin’s daughter, Deidra, who is 22 years old and enjoys traveling solo; I find myself wanting to be like her! Courageous and as she puts it “too stubborn to let anything stop her from traveling”. I wasn’t even like this at her age but I’ve always wanted to be. She even had a medical scare that would have stopped most people from traveling but not her. 

To listen to Deidra’s story go to our Podcast. 

Make Drastic life changes

I believe we become so complacent with our everyday lives that the longer we stay in our familiar surroundings and routines the harder it is to give up material things and do something scary.

This is the reason Avery and I sold our house in Fargo. We wanted to travel and after 15 years we had gotten very comfortable with our starter home but the cost of fixing that house up every year was killing our bank accounts therefore not leaving much money for traveling. 

So, what is the solution to traveling big? 

For us it was movement, making a plan and decision and sticking with it. But you need to take some first steps. Try going away for a long weekend, then try a week and eventually a month. Just break your routine and do something new and exciting that you normally wouldn’t do. 

For Avery and I, we started by going to Alabama for six weeks in winter, then the next winter went for 10 weeks came back and put our house on the market and never looked back. 

Thank you Deidra and all my friends who love to travel solo, you inspire me to daydream about this trip I will take someday! To not be complacent with my life and continuing to move forward no matter how uncomfortable or scary the situation might be.