I’ve been thinking a lot about the risks I’ve taken and how I’ve learned from them. My biggest adventure happened when I ran away from home to live in Africa, an experience that changed my life in ways I could have never foreseen. I’ve written a memoir of this time, sometimes thinking I would never finish it. But I did, and I hope you’ll add your name to my email list so I can keep you posted as I look for a home (read: publisher) for The Geography of Desire.
By the time I was twenty-four, I was stuck in a dead-end job and my love life had dwindled to ashes, so after a decade of dreaming about it, I joined the Peace Corps. I was scared I wouldn’t be able to make it in an African village, but I was equally desperate to reinvent myself. What really prompted me to get on that plane, though, was the image of my future self: an old woman sitting in a rocker kicking herself for not even trying to do the thing her younger self had so passionately wanted to do.
A lot of us long for adventure, but it’s raining outside and the laptop feels cozy. Though the world beckons, we hesitate. Years pass. Some of us might be thinking about opening an Etsy shop, others about hiking the Appalachian Trail. Still others might simply want to get their own place on the other side of town.
Have you ever taken a risk that changed your life? Or are you hesitating? How did you get up the courage to take the first step? Or what will help you do this? I’d love to hear from you. You can reach me at linda@lindagambill.com or on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.
I was super-happy to get wheels. Loved that Honda 50! We had a lot of adventures in The Gambia.