Out of the Comfort Zone

being from a small(ish) town in Northern California taught me to make the most of what you got. Appreciate, Never complain, and enjoy. But it also taught me to think big, figure out whats the next move, and then go do it.

I never moved when i was a kid, and even though i never had the choice in the matter, i never even thought about what it would be like to live anywhere else. Sure i loved the quick trip to San Francisco or Sacramento for a sports game or a long distance trip like florida, NYC, or Hawaii, but it never occurred to me that you could live any where else and truly enjoy it. As well as grow from living elsewhere.

Why would anyone not want to live in Redding, California where it is sunny 300 days out of the year?

Needless to say my thought process was pretty small as a kid and it was only when i decided that i needed to go live in a small college town 5 hours away and fought so hard with my parents to go do it, that i actually started to grow as a person and to discover my true self.

Same thing happened when I moved further north to Portland where i lived for 6 years learning how to be a PnW citizen, to enjoy the rain, the fresh air, and the new found love for coffee.

i didn’t realize that getting out of your comfort zone was so crucial. and its not mentioned enough.

But even that wasn’t even enough. i needed more. I needed to see the world. I had this itch even when i am

Go out and see the world. Take that trip that you shouldnt take. Spend that money that you shouldn’t have. After all it’s just fun tickets and you are going to get more.

Get outside your comfort zone. Hitchhike back on the last boat off the small island that happens to be the garbage ferry.

Go Learn a new culture or hell even a new language. try that weird cuisine.

Go walk 30,000 steps down paved streets and cobble stone streets and then go walk some more. Go talk to that pretty local girl and ask her out. Use google translate. A LOT. make it work. have some laughs. stay up through the night for that early flight. check out that sunrise and be surprised how good it makes you feel.

This blog is meant to inspire. It is original in content, but it doesn’t mean it wasn’t inspired elsewhere. inspiration can come from anywhere, and you never know who is listening or how we impact people digitally on social so let’s try to inspire every time. let’s see where it goes.

Go make your own stories because we are only as good as our stories

it really is a small world so let’s see how far this small town redding boy can go

the what, the why, and maybe the beginning

My whole life I was conditioned to seek out the new, the unexpected, the culture, the views, the different, and the most fun. This made me who I am today, which I probably never thanked my parents and the rest of my family. This rang true in everything that we did and it is what i liked to call “a snowball effect”. Now I am not trying to overthink things at 12:24 am on a school night (work nights are school nights, don’t lie), but its true. and right now everything that I have learned and grew to love has led me to this moment: creating a blog about my travel.

and man I was meant to TRAVEL. Don’t believe me? Let’s look at a couple of fun facts

• My parents met in Saudi Arabia as travel nurses for 2 years and then traveled around Africa, Southeast Asia, and Mexico before they settled back in California

• My aunt Renee was a staunch advocate for taking pictures everywhere we went and how we always needed to be ready for a smile or a funny face for a picture. She was always HEAVILY into scrapbooking and photo album creation.

• We had a small house and old cars, but took countless family trips around the United States and even Mexico when my sister and I were real young.

• My grandfather hitchhiked across the country by trains before he joined the marines in order to see the worlds fair in NYC.

• My aunt also was always game for the next road trip and would pile us into the car drive to the next destination even if it meant driving over a bridge which she was deathly afraid of or flying to another city even though she was also deathly afraid of flying (orange juice x vodka helped there).

• When we had state reports to do in 5th grade, my parents decided that we just had to go there which always helped our reports. so we went to the Land of Enchantment for me (New Mexico) and to the Hawaiian Islands for my sister. Obviously my sister was a lot smarter than me.

• My sister and I both did Camp Adventure where we were camp counselors on military bases in Germany during college summers and got to travel to different cities on the weekends. Young and 19 in Europe for the first time is a beautiful thing.

• Even my grandmother, at the ripe old age of 75 went on an adventure with a few of her friends and visited Norway and Sweden, just to do it.

sooooo ya, I think I was meant to travel. We all were.

But with all that said, this background of mine throughout my life has taught me that we need to embrace our own sense of wonder and that our own drive really creates lasting memories for you and everyone around you.

and my drive has been very focused my whole life. I just wanted to make my family proud, hang with my friends, watch my sports teams win, buy some sweet basketball shoes, eventually help make some, and see the world. and man have i seen it. 13% of the world to be exact or as my BEEN app tells me.

but that is not enough. I must see more. I’m addicted. and that is what you want out of a travel blogger (ugh that sounded gross just saying it. I will think of a better name). Always searching for the next and the new.

I must see it all while I have time on this beautiful planet. and while I do it, I should probably keep track as well. I will use this blog to give you a bit more insight into my world, my thought process, some great images, some culture, some music, some poetry, and whatever else I find useful to help navigate this world.

Being 30 makes you a bit more grounded and confident than I ever expected. Enough confidence to endure a blog and any naysayers. Dare i say more wise? I got some wisdom to give out, but i won’t give it all at once.

and who knows how long I do this for, but I need to generate this content because it is what keeps me sane now a days. It’s my hobby. and an expensive one at that. but it’s my progress and this snowball effect has gotten me to the best version of me. every new place helps me to be better than the last.

So we keep going. Plotting and scheming, doing it for the love of the game, showcasing the drive, and maybe a few likes along the way.

-CM