Life Begins at the Edge of Your Comfort Zone

Part of this trip was to really test my ability to step outside my comfort zone. Committing to 6 weeks away from LNK was a commitment. I wanted to do a 3 week program, but there wasn’t one for my degree plan, so I moved forward with the idea despite being nervous to be gone for that long.

Typically, I need some confirmation from others I trust before I make a big decision. Or, even a small decision… This has got to stop. I’m capable of making decisions, usually I have the right one in mind before I ask for advice. I’m rational, level headed and analytical (maybe too much?) in this sense. I just need help jumping off the edge.

Speaking of jumping off the edge, my first risk regret on this trip already happened within the first week. In Switzerland, a lot of people hang glide over Interlaken, but I did not. That sort of thing is not something in the Tristen playbook. Rollercoasters? Hate them. Deep water anything? Not a fan. My little sister went parasailing BY HERSELF 500 feet above the ocean on her 16th birthday when we were in Mexico. That girl, she’s a risk taker, and I admire her for that. I hate that I didn’t experience that, but when I’m presented with something like that my first instinct is to say, “no. no. no, I’m good.” After skipping the chance at a once in a lifetime experience in Interlaken, I reminded myself that I won’t experience more in life if I keep the door closed to it.

So the next time I was presented with an opportunity to do something I normally wouldn’t, I took it. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t consider backing out about five times, but in the middle of deciding whether or not to take this risk someone told me, “life begins at the edge of your comfort zone,” and the second I heard that statement I made the firm decision to stick to my plan. That statement needs to be my life motto right now.

I traveled 627 miles to Madrid, by myself via train, for about a half a day and a night in the city to explore with a couple people I had met twice in Barcelona. I decided this and left all within about 18 hours. Truly crazy. And I know, most of you are thinking, “TRISTEN WHAT IN THE WORLD WERE YOU THINKING?” Not sure, but I can tell you now, I have zero regrets. I had a great time and I was so incredibly proud of myself for making the decision to do this, for not backing out, for managing the cross country travel on my own, for meeting up with people I’d spent just a few hours with. (To calm your nerves a bit, the people I met: normal, nice Americans from the East coast, graduates of a university in D.C.) I spent the day exploring and the evening going out with people who were staying in the same Hostel as us. I woke up the next day and took the 2 1/2 hour train back to Barcelona and went straight to class. The close timing of arrival back in my city and class starting would normally be enough to make me not go. Normally I would not risk being late to class so I’d skip a fun time just to have that buffer room. Ridiculous. That buffer room holds some pretty fun and exciting experiences that I’ve been missing out on!

Madrid was incredible! The capital city is very different from Barcelona. It was overwhelmingly hot there, my theory is that it isn’t by a body of water like Barcelona is. There is one big street in the middle of Madrid that runs across the entire city, its called “Calle Gran Vía”. That street connects two major parks, one of which has “Palacio Real de Madrid“. This layout made exploration very easy, especially considering I had no planning time prior to the trip! The hostel we stayed in was brand new, and the sort of people you meet at hostels provide enough information to fill an entire blog post. If you are young, single, solo traveling, want to meet people in every city you travel to in Europe, or just budget traveling in general, stay in a hostel. And Madrid’s is top notch.

I’ll leave you with my advice: may you always remember where your comfort zone ends, and push right on past it.

Tristen