The beginning...

Hello Steemiters,

I’m not going to tell you how to quit your 9 to 5 job, work remote and travel forever.

What I will do instead is tell you my story; the way I did it. I want to inspire you and get inspired.

It all started in January 2017. I was living in the San Fransisco Bay Area. Struggling with my health, bills, car, a lawsuit, and a broken relationship.

After years of battling depression, severe anxiety it all seemed to be falling more and more apart. I hit the breaking point. My fiancee who had been with me for over a year broke our engagement overnight then disappeared into thin air.

I was lonely, I had no family in California or close enough to drive for a weekend. My best friend had moved to Jerusalem.

Being a workaholic prohibit me from a having a social life; so I had no real friends mostly acquaintances. Unfortunately, I also neglected beautiful friendships.

I was so tired of living. I was breathing to breathe but I would pray every night not wake up the next morning. I was so tired of working; I've always worked two jobs sometimes even three. I suffered from depression and very bad anxiety which led me to an eating disorder, and a lot of memory loss due to my inability to focus. I had my mind everywhere else except where it needed to be.

On January 20, 2017, a week after my fiancee broke our engagement I decided to make a change. I was losing it! I have always been such a happy person, however when I looked in the mirror it was someone I didn’t recognize nor did I want to admit it was me. So I quit my job that same day then call my parents which live in Arizona to tell them I was moving to my dream location, San Diego, California. I explained to the finest detail what was happening in my life and that we called off the wedding. I told them I would spend a few weeks in Arizona to rest and then start looking for a job and a new home in San Diego.

My mom got very scared because 3 years ago I had a major meltdown from a 12-year long relationship. So she sent my sister to California the next day to help me with the move. Packed most of my belongings, sold and gave away a lot.

Once I got to Arizona, I spend 2 weeks there. Schedule a couple interviews in San Diego and booked a 2-way ticket from San Diego to Israel to visit my best friend and her fiancee.

When I went to Israel, I felt something I never felt before. I felt peace in my head, my thoughts no longer were raising. Nevertheless, I was still heartbroken and broken overall. I was talking to another good friend in Germany and she asked me to visit her. I thought about it for a couple of hours, that same afternoon I called the hiring managers to thank them for the opportunities and canceled all my interviews and my flight back to San Diego.

I flew to Germany the week after. From their flights in Europe were very cheap. That was when I began my solo backpacking trip across Europe and Morocco.

I was always bad at geography so I opened google maps, checked what was next to Germany and started traveling to my dream destinations.

I couldn't stop, I caught a travel bug as people say. I needed that time for myself. I needed to be alone and find out what it was like to feel free and feel beautiful again. I needed all the pains to heal. More than anything I needed my thoughts on "what could have been and the what if's” gone forever. I needed new memories to overlap the sad ones. I needed mind, body, and soul replenishment and I got it.

I understand everyone has a dark memory they don't wish to others. Therefore, I don't wish anyone what I been through. However, I do wish they get the time to find something that helps them as much as traveling and being away helped me.

It doesn't have to be traveling it can be anything that might put your mind at ease. Though, I really encourage everyone to do a solo trip.

A lot of my solo backpacking experience change the way I see life now and myself. I'm very thankful for this opportunity and thank God for how brave I have always been and never notice until now.

After 8 months of solo backpacking across Europe and Morocco, I return to the states for the holidays. In February 2018 I moved to Paris, France to start all over again...in life.

I hope you stick around to read about my solo backpacking journey. But if not I hope you find something that inspires you to learn, live, love and travel.

Thank you for reading.

Old City, Jerusalem

Dead Sea

Streets in Jerusalem