“Fear is a big thing in my life. When I experience it, it helps me choose what to do.
What I’m interested in is going where I’ve never been. Fear is a sign I’ve reached the end of known territories; its a sign to prepare myself, not a sign to stop. I would regret it all my life if I stopped.”
Eric Valli
I don’t normally pay much attention to the cliched ‘motivational’ verbage that gets thrown around so often these days. But while reading an article on the life and passions of photojournalist Eric Valli I came across this quote and, considering our current journey into the unknown, thought it quite apt.
These words capture the essence of why Karen and I love travel, and why we so often choose the road less travelled.
Foregoing the perceived ‘security’ of a travel agent and planning every aspect of our itinerary, shunning the organised tour groups that only give you a fleeting hint of a country’s essence and then briskly whisk you on to your next destination, eating where the locals eat and risking the occasional ‘local delicacy’ to which our western tastebuds rebel, stepping off the busy arrow straight highway and onto the meandering deserted dusty dirt road. All these things create some level of fear and incertainty within us both, yet at the same time they make us feel alive, feeling the fear and uncertainty, yet using that fear as a positive spur to keep expanding our boundaries, and to continue learning life’s lessons, together.