It’s been said time and time again, in a world with such prominent social media, people post the positives of their lives but rarely the negatives. This gives everyone else a messed up view that every one else has perfect lives but them — but it’s simply not true. 

Now, I’m not saying this because there is anything particularly bad going on for me right now, but there is a lot of uncertainty in the path that I have chosen. I have given up a reliable paycheck and job security in engineering to pursue freelance work and a life of travel. Definitely not without it’s advantages — otherwise who would chose to go this route? But it surely has it’s disadvantages too, and that’s not something that gets talked about as much. 

The biggest disadvantage in my eyes is the financial rollercoster. Some weeks are great — nearly as good as otherwise I could be doing as an engineer. Other weeks… well let’s just say that I could make more money walking around a parking lot picking up spare change. Those weeks are tough. They make me question everything I am doing. And sometimes those weeks aren’t actually weeks — they’re days. Sometimes they’re even hours. I have had days where I have flipped back and forth between “I need a ‘real job’” and “No I can make this work” dozens of times. 

Not to mention that sometimes things happen at home -some of the things I alluded about in my post from Colombia. Sometimes I seriously reconsider how much time I spend away from home. How little I see my family compared with if I had decided to follow the conventional path. Many of my college friends have moved away from my ‘home,’ and I don’t have many friends there when I am home because I am home so rarely. It sometimes makes for a lonely existence. 

I’m not complaining. I am stating a reality. One that doesn’t get stated too often because we all are too busy posting the good parts of our lives on social media and even more so on blogs. Blogging takes everything to a whole different level because the sometimes sad traveler doesn’t sell as well. You want to hear about the awesome, taste the deliciousness, and find inspiration for your own travels. And that’s why I love travel too. Life of a full-time or nearly full-time traveler has many of those moments, and I plan to keep sharing them with you! 

Don’t forget though, I’m a person too. I have my ups and downs. Every lifestyle has their own, and we all choose the one that will work the best for us for one reason or another. And it’s awesome that it’s not all the same — because life sure would be boring if it were! 

I wrote the majority of this post on a plane headed to India. Definitely an ‘up’ moment where I was reflecting on the more ‘down’ moments and why it is worthwhile to push through them. Since then, even though it’s only been a week, there have been many ups and downs while exploring India, a country that, so far, I absolutely love.

I know that my lifestyle of choice, just like anyone’s, will continue to have it’s ups and downs, but that’s no reason to stop striving to make your life the best life that it can be! So, here’s to chasing our dreams, through the highs and the lows. Here’s to letting the highs keep us going, even though the lows. We won’t ever look back on chasing our dreams and regret it, but we surely will look back and regret not giving it a try. Here’s to living the life we want to live.