When I started this blog, I wasn’t really sure where it was going. I felt like I needed to know where it was though, so I tried to settle into a travel niche. I read, followed, and occasionally tried to model myself off of industry giants, but it’s taken a lot of time for me to digest the advice I was devouring like the Internet might break. The crux of that advice was: making a living as a travel blogger (or any sort of blogger) is really, really hard, so don’t bring anything less than 110% to the table. I’ve failed to do that repeatedly, but that’s the case for a lot of people with big dreams– we don’t show up for ourselves.
Speaking as a seasoned failure, now, I’ve started to realize that sitting with failure is as important as moving on from it. I’m a perfectionistic go-getter who has often chosen quality over consistency, without realizing that success actually lurks on the bell curve between the two.
I do love to travel and that love will continue to be expressed on this blog, but I’ve also realized that I have a lot of other opinions and thoughts on other subjects that I want to make room for, too. Topics such as, what does it mean to be an American, what is my role in ensuring that this is the generation the tide turns against racism– once and for all? What does it say about me that I’ve never considered myself a patriot until I realized how acute the struggle for equality continues to be today? Is lack of empathy at the heart of everything wrong with the U.S.? Do I disdain careers because I don’t have one? And a kicker that always leaves me slightly nauseous– do I even want to be a writer?
If my on and off blogging has taught me anything over the past three years, it’s that waiting for the “right” moment might be one of the most harmful things ambitious people can do. I got into a heated debate about this the other day with my younger brother, who is also in his early 20’s and experiencing the draining mix of horror, awe, and ambivalence that I think typifies a healthy young adult experience. All of us, regardless of personality, have things we want to feel about this experience of living, even though we might not be able to concretely say what exactly we want to accomplish or be. And maybe, at the end of the day, that’s where The Millennial Abroad comes in.
