1500 Days to Freedom

Think different and escape the rat race.

Gratitude Found Through Perspective

by

Shannon and Sergio who write over at Screw the Average guest post today with a healthy dose of gratitude! Screw the Average is a pretty great blog name, but I like their tagline even better:

be an outlier.

And these two are definitely outliers. Check out some of their travels. While those photos are awesome, you must see the one here (and read the story on that page too!).

Take it from here Shannon and Sergio!

Gratitude Found Throu­­­­­­­gh Perspective

Everything changed in the summer of 2016. We sold, donated, or discarded 95% of our belongings and stored the rest. We turned in our apartment keys and took off with just a 36-liter backpack for each of us. We had no apartment and no home-base. From then on, we were bound to nothing but each other. After years of hard work, determination, and living life differently than the ‘average Joe’, we were finally on our way to ‘independence’. We were one giant step closer to location, employment, financial, and a myriad of other independences.

Screw the Average making memories around Europe. Top to bottom and left to right: Our trusty backpacks on ‘Europe’s Most Beautiful Balcony’ in Luxembourg City; a beautiful day captured in front of the Eiffel Tower; a friend took us to Dusseldorf, Germany and we captured the sunset next to Rhine River; a shadow of a sweet kiss in Paris in the gardens behind Notre Dame; Sergio on a fall day in Sanssouci Park, Potsdam, Germany; our feet in the ocean; bundled up in Northern Ireland on the Antrim Coast near Giant’s Causeway; standing on the ‘Bridge of Love’ over Minnewater Lake in Bruges, Belgium; on the banks of the Danube River and the Széchenyi Chain Bridge in Budapest, Hungary.

We’d planned to spend a year abroad, and being the planners that we are, we knew even before we landed in Europe (Dublin was our first destination), that we’d need to start planning less and experiencing more. Lifestyle changes were expected, and we embraced them. In theory, we knew this year would be full of great adventures, but it was still going to be ‘life’, so challenges and roadblocks would no doubt happen along the way. However, this yearlong European adventure was a ‘bucket-list’ aspiration that had slowly grown to grandiose proportions in our minds. And, how could it not? We grew up in front of television shows and movies that glamorize European travel with 45-second montages that capture only the highlights and smiles of a vacation in an exotic and welcoming land.

So what happens when reality sets in? When you spend countless hours bored and uncomfortable on a plane. When it takes an entire day to work out the logistics of travel, house sitting, and sightseeing in a new city. When you’re lying on a terrible mattress and wishing you could get just one more hour of sleep. When you’re promised a fast and reliable internet connection, but it’s so bad that you can barely check your email, let alone do work. Or, when you go to the grocery store on a Sunday to buy dinner and are confronted with a locked entrance, because you didn’t realize that everything in town is closed on Sundays. The natural response is to let it define and sour your experience. And, if we’re honest with ourselves, we’ve let that happen a few times.

The harder thing to do was to change our perspective. It’s no doubt a challenge, but if we wanted to be happy, and not only survive but love the adventure we’d been aspiring to do for so long, we had to find a way to ‘look at the bright side’. So, when we retell the story of missing our train in a small town in England, it’s not defined by the train we missed. Instead, it’s about the kindest, most positive woman we’d ever encountered. A cab or bus would’ve never gotten us to our connecting train in time, so she graciously gave us, two strangers standing on the corner in front of her cafe, a ride to the next town to make our connecting train. Similarly, we were evacuated from a train station in London because of a strike on the ‘Tube’ (London’s underground subway), which had a domino effect in shutting down all the surface trains and over-crowding the city buses. We subsequently spent the day trying to navigate the almost non-existent public transportation to get to Windsor Castle. In the end, we never made it to our destination, but we didn’t let that ruin our day. Looking back, we’re thrilled by the adventure of it all.

The beauty of London. Top to bottom and left to right: The front of Westminster Abbey; Elizabeth Tower and Big Ben; a view down the River Thames from city center; looking over the River Thames towards Elizabeth tower and Parliament.

We doubt anyone would blame us for being disappointed by the cold, cloudy, and rainy weather we endured in Ireland, Amsterdam, and Edinburgh. Our pictures and memories are filled with gray, gloomy skies. But again, that doesn’t define our time there. Instead, we’re grateful that we were able to visit during off-tourist-season, and had most places to ourselves. It’s rare to be able to stand on the Cliffs of Moher alone, or wait less than 2-minutes in line to enter Edinburgh Castle. Due to it being ‘off season’, we were able to take pictures of famous landmarks, architectural wonders, and monuments with very few, to no tourists in our photographs. At times, it was like having the city and countless natural wonders to ourselves.

The beauty we discovered, despite the grey clouds and haze. Left side, top to bottom: Looking through Princess Street Garden to Edinburg Castle on the hill; the Kerry Cliffs in Portmagee, Ireland. Right side, top to bottom: Despite the dangerous wind, one of our favorite places was the Cliffs of Moher in Ireland; Amsterdam’s famous view of Seven bridges of Reguliersgracht was memorable even though it wasn’t clear enough to see all 7 bridges; Dean’s Village in Edinburgh was incredibly charming; even without a blue sky, the homes along the Amsterdam canals are beautiful.

And make no mistake, things will go wrong, no matter how thorough and detailed you are in your planning. Like when we booked plane tickets from Istanbul to Zurich for the wrong month and didn’t realize it until a day before we needed to leave. It cost us hundreds of dollars and an entire day of stressful problem solving. We should’ve been miserable. But hey, we were in Istanbul and on our way to Zurich! The mistake forced us to wake up at 2 am to catch a much earlier flight (five hours earlier to be exact), but we had an amazing sunrise from the airplane. So, in the end, how could we complain?

It was a challenge to travel from Istanbul to Zurich, but we made it! Clockwise from the top: we got a picture of us and the Zurich skyline from Lindenhofplatz (park/place); a majority of our pictures in Zurich, Switzerland were of Zurich Lake and the views of the Alps; at least we had a beautiful sunrise for our 2 am wakeup call to catch our flight; peeking out the window of the Hagia Sophia to see the Blue Mosque in Istanbul, Turkey; from every bridge in Zurich, Switzerland there’s a fantastic view of the Limmat River; Sultanahmet Square in Istanbul sits between the Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque.

We spent a week in Cairo, and everything about our sightseeing seemed to go wrong. We’d planned to see a dozen things our first day out, and by mid-afternoon we felt like throwing in the towel after only seeing three tourist destinations. We felt deflated and defeated, so we stopped on a corner, in the middle of Cairo, and had a talk. Yes, the day was rough and the city wasn’t what we expected, but we’d been all over the city on foot. We’d been to places most tourists don’t see and we had some great stories to tell. We recovered the day when we realized that, while we hadn’t seen all of the tourist attractions we wanted to see, we’d seen an authentic, un-curated side of Cairo. That’s something we aspire to achieve in our travels, so why were we so disappointed?

Cairo, Egypt holds many ancient secrets… Top to bottom and left to right: Looking straight up at the incredibly large Great Pyramid of Giza (Pyramid of Khufu); we walked to a dead-end and had this view of the neighborhood; us in front of the Great Sphinx; the serene courtyard of Al Jame’ Al Anwar Mosque; the wood carved, with gold inlay sarcophagus from tomb 55 is still a mystery to be solved; the view of the second largest pyramid in the complex, Pyramid of Khafre, with Pyramid of Menkaure in the background.

Ultimately, it’s about perspective. Whether we’re traveling the world or are at home, inconveniences, mistakes, surprises, etc., will naturally happen. We can create a negative narrative around them, affecting our experience and our happiness, or we can accept whatever the situation is and look at the ‘bright side’. If we look hard enough, we can usually find at least one positive aspect. Sometimes, it may just be, ‘hey this is going to make for a great story’.

At the end of the day, positive or negative, we’re fortunate enough to have the personal freedom to choose our outlook. Therefore, we choose to be incredibly grateful for the experiences we’ve had and the life we’ve managed to create for ourselves!

Looking out over the Pyramids, grateful for each other, our adventures, and each new day!

Join the 10s who have signed up already!

Subscribing will improve your life in incredible ways*.

*Only if your life is pretty bad to begin with.

Powered by ConvertKit

Reader Interactions

Comments

  4. Being able to turn shit into gold is a gift that few have. 🙂 There is something about knowing you have no safety net to crawl back to that lets you see the silver lining. I’ve been on quite a few solo long distance hikes where things have gone very wrong and I’ve had to stretch out of my comfort zone to rely on the kindness of others or my instincts alone. I think instinct often gets drowned out when we are so set in a schedule. One little change can make it blow up. But when you’re constantly able to roll with the punches those changes become adventures instead (like Mr 1500 and the fam trying to get to Chicago to make the Scotland flight!). You guys are a great example of the upside of travel – you never know where the world is going to take you or how your adventure will unfold.

    PS – How have those Ospreys held up? I have a constant debate going with my friend who is all Osprey and I pro Gregory (due to their lighter weight).

    • Solo travel and hikes would be even more challenging and quite an adventure! There are days that we’d have trouble getting by without each other, but we can see how it could be extremely rewarding to overcome the challenges. We bet you meet amazing people along the way and have unique understanding of the kindness and openness of strangers. Instincts are important, and you’re right, they can get drowned out by thinking too much. It’s a hard to find balance!

      Our Osprey bags have held up very well. One bag has an extremely small hole on the hip belt pocket, like it caught on something, but overall the wear has been minimal. Considering they’re in constant use, we’re impressed with them. We’ve been talking about going smaller next time though, and carrying less weight so that we don’t need such a robust suspension system and hip-belt (therefore cutting weight). How’s the warranty on Gregory?
      Screw The Average recently posted…11 Tips to Save Money When Flying Budget European AirlinesMy Profile

      • I haven’t had to use the warranty but I buy all my bags from REI and their return policy is amazing. I carry a Jade 38L for backpacking (no tent/stove) and highly recommend it! Have fun on your travels – I look forward to following your adventures. 🙂

  5. I love your attitude and your adventure.

    I try to be grateful as well. I’m FIREd now so some people think it must be like paradise and, no doubt, overall it’s awesome.

    But not everyday is an awesome day. Some days I’m sick, sad, whatever. On those days I usually have a moment of clarity when I realize “I’m free so I don’t have to go to work today!” And then I’m grateful. 🙂
    Mr. Freaky Frugal recently posted…To budget or not to budget?My Profile

    • We do our best! At this point even catastrophes have become humorous and favorite moments, like having a dog at an Airbnb chew up the new insole in one of our shoes (we didn’t keep the original, so we had to sightsee with a chewed up insole!) And our ‘rough’ moments become learning and growing experiences, but like you said, it takes time for that perspective to take hold. And everything else… well we’re incredibly fortunate to be doing what we’re doing!

      We’ll keep posting about our journey on our website and Facebook, so we sincerely hope you’ll follow along and enjoy the ride with us!
      Screw The Average recently posted…11 Tips to Save Money When Flying Budget European AirlinesMy Profile

  7. Small correction there, Princes Street Gardens are found below Edinburgh castle. It’s a common mistake for non locals to make as it sounds like that’s what we said 🙂

  9. Ha, I lived in Cairo for about a year after I graduated college. Things rarely go as planned in Egypt, so I feel your pain! Glad you were able to look on the upside, because many people would’ve thrown in the towel for sure (I did on many days!) Your other travels look amazing as well!

    • Melissa, that must have been an incredible experience! Yes, we learned to make fewer plans and instead have more ‘goals’ in Cairo, and we certainly experienced what we believe to be a more authentic experience than if we’d taken a curated tour through the main attractions. I’m sure if we’d been there a year, we’d have thrown in the towel many times as well. We appreciate the difference in culture and experience, and are sure it would be more challenging to immerse ourselves in it for an entire year.

      We hope you’re still traveling and exploring new places!
      Screw The Average recently posted…11 Tips to Save Money When Flying Budget European AirlinesMy Profile

  10. Sounds like a great trip. I’m planning to take a year off from early retirement and travel around the world in a couple of year. It’s daunting especially with a kid along. Thanks for reminding me that it won’t go according to plan. We’ll just have to be flexible and keep our cool.
    Enjoy your trip!

    • We’re so excited for you! We don’t know what it would be like with a child, but we hope to know soon! 😉 We’ve heard from parents that it’s very possible to travel with kids, but slower is better. Our travels started off as a year traveling the world, but we quickly limited it to Europe, Asia, and the Middle East when we realized that a year wasn’t enough time to travel the entire world. We then limited it again to just Europe. Now, we realize that a year in Europe alone isn’t enough to see and go everywhere we wanted to.

      We hope you enjoy traveling, and if we can make one recommendation… it’ll never be the perfect time to go. At some point you’ll just need to do it! Hopefully our travel-log and website can help you get out there and explore! We’re always happy to share any information, knowledge, and experience we’ve picked up along the way, so feel free to reach out to us at any time.
      Screw The Average recently posted…11 Tips to Save Money When Flying Budget European AirlinesMy Profile

  11. Your pictures are gorgeous and your message is spot on. Perspective can make or break an experience. I was lucky enough to grow up with a father who is the Grand Poobah of Perspective, and I am extremely grateful that he taught me that a thing is ordinary only if I choose to believe it so, and that a thing is a terrible ordeal only if I choose to allow it to be.
    Mrs. BITA recently posted…Calculating our Expenses in RetirementMy Profile

    • So well said Mrs. BITA! You’re among the few who were lucky to learn that lesson early on. It’s incredible how something so simple can change everything. One thing that has helped us, is knowing that just because something has gone wrong, it doesn’t have to affect our entire day. We often ‘re-start’ our day, giving it a fresh start and fresh perspective.
      Screw The Average recently posted…11 Tips to Save Money When Flying Budget European AirlinesMy Profile

    • Oh we’re so happy to hear that! Our purpose of starting the blog was to take our friends and family along ‘with’ us on our travels. The more the merrier! Be sure to keep checking the blog for updates, upcoming are our travels to Oslo, Romania (including one of the most amazing road trips in the world), Bratislava, Vienna, Poland…. and 6 more countries are on the itinerary. We promise tons more pictures 🙂
      Screw The Average recently posted…11 Tips to Save Money When Flying Budget European AirlinesMy Profile

  13. I appreciate this sentiment, especially this week (it’s been a rough one so far): “Ultimately, it’s about perspective. Whether we’re traveling the world or are at home, inconveniences, mistakes, surprises, etc., will naturally happen. We can create a negative narrative around them, affecting our experience and our happiness, or we can accept whatever the situation is and look at the ‘bright side’.”

    Yup. Thanks for the reminder to reach for the positive and enjoy as much of every day as possible.

  14. WHERE is that photo with the stars??? I love, love, LOVE stargazing and astronomy. I have plans to do a bunch of astrotourism… haha… just made that up.:)

    This includes visiting telescopes such as Arecibo, Atacama Desert (Chile), Canary Islands (Spanish islands off the coast of Africa). And then the Green Bank telescope in WV, where no cell phones are allowed!

    We also plan on visiting several certified/designated “dark sky” parks.

    BTW, love the name “Screw The Average”. I feel similar, which is why SMART goals bore me to tears and instead, I came up with thinking in terms of DUMB goals: Daring, Uncomfortable, Meaningful and Bold & Balanced.
    Primal Prosperity recently posted…Unfortunately, the eclipse is during a “work day”…My Profile

    • Also, if you like to read, I highly suggest two travel memoirs: “No Baggage” and “Tales of a Female Nomad”. Also, even couples should experience solo travel…. it is awesome!

      • When we started the blog, we weren’t yet traveling and didn’t have our own photos to share, so it’s a stock photo. We thought the image captured the sentiment we were going for perfectly! We’ve since transitioned over to more and more of our own photography (we’re now using about 90+% of our own). However, as best as we can tell it was taken at the Paranal Observatory in Chile.

        We’ve done a few ‘astrotourism’ excursions ourselves (one example is the observatory ‘Maunakea’ in Hawaii). We have a great camera, but not one that will capture the sky in such beauty. Ultimately, since we carry only one bag apiece, it’s an 80/20 proposition on all our items to limit weight and space. So, our camera is small, much better than a phone but not a DSLR. One of our huge bucket list items is to see the Aurora Borealis. It’s eluded us on this trip, but we’ll make it to the perfect spot soon enough! 🙂

        How great are DUMB goals!? If we aren’t uncomfortable, we aren’t growing and expanding, and we certainly aren’t succeeding in a way that is meaningful to us.

        And thank you for the recommendations! We really enjoy learning and hearing/reading about others’ adventures.
        Screw The Average recently posted…11 Tips to Save Money When Flying Budget European AirlinesMy Profile

  15. Thanks for sharing your story STA! I always say that the travel stories we tell are never the ones that happened just as they should have. We tell the stories about that missed flight or getting caught in the pouring rain or ordering something that you think you know what it is and it isn’t even close. You can either learn from it and try to not let it happen again or you embrace it and continue on, but ultimately it is all part of the experience. Your pictures are awesome and make me itching to go on my next trip.

  16. That’s so true! It’s the adventure that we remember and that we re-tell. As we go from place to place, we’ve found that, while we love seeing all the sites and tourist destinations, what we enjoy the most are the experiences we have along the way (planned or unplanned).

    We’re glad you enjoy the photos, we hope you enjoy your next trip, wherever that may be!
    Screw The Average recently posted…11 Tips to Save Money When Flying Budget European AirlinesMy Profile

  17. I love the realistic outlook on what traveling full time is actually like. Love the blog name too! I assume y’all have read “The End of Average” by Todd Rose? If not, I think you’d really enjoy it given your analytical minds!

  18. We haven’t read it, but it’s certainly on our book list now! Thank you for the recommendation, it looks really interesting and like a book we’d both enjoy.

    Yes, traveling full time is more than the glamorous days that most people assume it to be, or even make it out to be. It’s no longer vacation, it’s now life. But like Mustard Seed Money commented earlier, it still beats a day in the office!
    Screw The Average recently posted…11 Tips to Save Money When Flying Budget European AirlinesMy Profile

Trackbacks