Overcoming Travel Setbacks and Learning to Dream Again

I failed hard at my biggest life goal and it hindered my ability to dream and plan… Five years ago, I did the thing most people only dream about. I quit my life, packed up my plans, and set out to travel the world—alone. With $100k and a heart full of wanderlust, I thought I had it all figured out. The thrill of freedom, the unknown, the endless possibilities. I was doing it—really doing it. Then, the world stopped. Literally. Borders closed, the skies emptied, and my plans—my entire vision of the future—vanished. Just like that, the world shut its doors, and for 2.5 years, I was grounded. In all the history of the world, I picked the one time, the one moment, in the last century where travel became impossible. And it hit me deep. Deeper than I realized. I didn’t just lose my plans; I lost the ability to dream them. The woman who once thrived on mapping out her life’s next adventure, who loved the art of decision-making, suddenly couldn’t see past the day in front of her. But here’s the thing. In that stillness, I learned something else. I learned how to just be. To sit in the present moment and let go of the need to control every outcome. I learned to flow with the changes, not fight them. And while that’s a gift in itself—a gift I’ll carry with me always—it’s time to reawaken that part of me that plans, that dreams big and bold again. The anxiety’s here, running Mach 10, because now I’m standing at a crossroads, and it’s asking me to make some big decisions about the future. And yeah, decision-making was once my superpower. It still is, I just have to remind myself of that. I know it’s time to move forward again—to push through the fear of the unknown and remember how to dream. To trust that even when plans don’t go perfectly, the path forward is still unfolding, and it’s mine to create.