Her Journey to a Life of Travel
Sarah’s journey to a life of travel began, as with most of us, in her otherwise very normal childhood. Raised in suburbia, she describes herself as a daydreamer. “I was constantly lost in my own world, writing, drawing, and playing make-believe with friends.”
She began to take interest beyond her backyard with every young girl’s favorite twins, the Olsens. From Our Lips are Sealed, Holiday in the Sun, and Passport to Paris, she began to picture herself in far off places. Her own family opted to stay nearby for vacations, choosing camping trips to California’s Refugio State Beach. While she loved summers spent with s’mores, popsicle, the smell of campfire, kayaking, and stand-up paddle boarding, her imagination ran wild. “Before Pinterest, my biggest inspiration for travel was books. I loved sitting in the travel section at the bookstore for hours and searching for places to go.”
However, the simple joys of childhood dreaming don’t last very long in the face of growing up. Though it took her some time to put a name to it, Sarah began struggling with deep unhappiness and unrest.
“When you’re stuck in a cycle of anxiety and depression, your world can feel so small, so isolated.”
Heartbroken after university rejections, studying a major she didn’t love, and fearful that she might never finally leave her hometown, Sarah began to understand this sadness after reading Eat Pray Love. “There was a moment when she described feeling like the only thing harder than leaving was staying where she was at. It was exactly how I felt. I wanted to be pushed, so it was then that I realized I needed to make travel a priority.”
Just dreaming about travel offered her relief– an antidote to her anxieties. “Travel is about being fearless. Day dreaming about travel was filling my mind with who I wanted to be and who I knew I could be, not just the body and mind I felt stuck in at the time.” With this newfound courage, she just had to decide where.
Studying in Madrid was a natural choice. With Mexican-American roots and a Spanish ancestry, Sarah studied Spanish seriously in school. She saw it as a connection to her history. Of course, as a new traveler, she wasn’t quite ready to take on Latin America, so she chose Spain. It had always been a dream destination, and she’d get her big city experience. Not to mention, the rest of Europe was at her doorstep.
Of course, student life at La Universidad de Complutense de Madrid proved challenging. Nothing can quite prepare you for the total freedom involved in being young in a foreign country. “I had a blast, but I struggled to find my groove in the beginning.” Between the mental exhaustion from classes in foreign language, whirlwind weekend trips, and late nights out, it was hard developing friendships and balancing this rigorous pace of life. “After all, we only had three months to have the time of our lives.”
“I found myself wondering if maybe I wasn’t the adventurous explorer I always wanted to be.”
However as her time in Madrid grew, Sarah grew as well. She was changing as the small, day-to-day victories began to pile up. “Every day in Spain, I was living past fear and participating in my life. I think we like to perpetuate the idea that travel has to be a constant, huge adventure, but it was the day-to-day moments that changed me the most. The first day I successfully rode the metro without getting lost, or talked on the phone with a Spaniard, or learned how to order my coffee just right, without pause… If you’re brave enough to live your dreams one small action at a time, you can find incomparable joy while running to catch a flight or finding a restaurant without a map.”
If Spain was the beginning, Sarah’s true renaissance came later when she quite an unfulfilling job. She recommitted herself to Christ and God and knew simply continuing to exist was helping no one. A bit impulsively, she joined her yoga teacher for a six week retreat in Costa Rica. There she would earn her yoga certification. It was one of the best trip she’s ever taken, and while yoga is not her calling, she never regrets making the decision. “I really thrived when I was backpacking in Costa Rica. It was my first solo international trip after studying abroad in Madrid, and it sounds cliche, but I really ‘found myself’ there. I was so connected with who I was at my core, beautiful, fun, adventurous, brave, and not at all sad. I knew that this was what I wanted out of travel; to feel wonder, amazement, love, and joy.”
“You are the salt of the earth.” Matthew 5:13
When she returned, she knew she wouldn’t be home for long. With a renewed love of writing, travel on the brain, and Spain still calling her name, Sarah naturally jumped at the chance to return. “This October, I will be moving to Mijas, Spain for six months as part of a Christian Leadership Program called the G42 Leadership Academy. I’ll be focusing on advancing my writing skills and equipping myself for a life in ministry and service.” Of course, she’ll explore in her free time, and she’s anticipating overcoming her fears and finding confidence in her skills as a writer.
It’s been a long journey to reach this sense of peace, and it’s time for a new one to start. Sarah’s got big dreams, and she hopes to write and serve people all over the world while traveling. She created Salted Adventures, which takes its name from the verse above. She wants to help readers realize, “how powerful we are, how courageous we can be, how we fill this earth with flavor. Salted Adventures is about the belief that if we are the salt of the earth, then we also must be the adventure ourselves. We don’t need to look for adventure, we carry it with us wherever we go.”
follow sarah’s journey here:
SALTED ADVENTURES
What has your travel journey looked like?
Interview by Samantha, Photos via Sarah
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Haha, I was one of those girls who caught a bit of a wanderlust bug if you will after watching the Olsens jet off to all these fun destinations (esp. Passport to Paris and Winning London) and then the Lizzie McGuire movie happened and I was like okay, time to go. But what a beautiful narrative Sarah and especially how your faith has inspired to live in your truth. I especially love the back story of how you come across your blog name. Reading that this morning has put my own faith back into perspective. I’m also a devout Christian but I feel like I’ve separated it from my day-to-day experiences but I know how much God has played a role in where I am today and I should thank Him more for that.
Neat, she became Yoga certified in Costa Rica – that’s one of those “One day, maybe I will…” things for me. I wish her all the best in her emotional and physical journey!
Good luck in your adventures, Sarah. It’s inspiring to see young people who courageously go out of their comfort zones to live the life they yearn for.
This is a very inspirational post! I can totally relate to Sarah.
I’m glad she found her happiness :)
Loved Sarah’s story! Such Saturday inspiration :) thanks for sharing this interview- another amazing globetrotting woman to follow! Xx
No problem, thank you for reading! I’m glad you found it inspiring :)!
Beautiful post! I love how she didn’t really immediately feel the change that traveling was doing to her until later on, and bit by bit at that. This whole post is like a shortened Eat Pray Love story. I’m glad to read that she has now found peace.
I also want to add that the last lines really touched me. “…if we are the salt of the earth, then we also must be the adventure ourselves. We don’t need to look for adventure, we carry it with us wherever we go.”
Thank you very much for sharing. :)
Thank YOU for reading! All her answers were so amazing to read through! It was hard to cut some of them out!
I like how Sarah viewed traveling and exploring the world in a biblical perspective. true indeed, we are the salt of the earth, and may we become a good influence to people around us everywhere we go and everywhere we travel. I am excited to read more about her adventures. Just like some of us, at one point of our lives, we feel so isolated, and travel is the only resort to this. Thanks for sharing this story.
Right? I love it so much! Even if someone isn’t necessarily religious, it’s just a refreshing take on travel writing!
I hated a previous job as well and if you’re too long in that kind of situation then it starts to eat away at you. Good that you found the courage to move on.
Right? The part time jobs I had throughout high school and college began eating at me, and I didn’t even hate them! They just weren’t what I loved.
Wow, Sarah is very inspirational! I can relate to leaving an unfulfilling job, I’m so happy she’s found happiness abroad! We would love the check out her journey as we are considering Spain ourselves! Thanks for sharing!
Definitely! She’ll have a bunch of fun content for Spain!
That is a very inspirational interview. There is nothing fulfilling as discovering yourself and pursuing what your life truly is destined to accomplish. This life is an adventure and we must all let it manifest at a point on this journey. Thanks for sharing Sarah’s story. I will follow her blog.
Right? Self-discovery is something magical. You’ll definitely enjoy her blog :)
May God continue to bless Sarah in all that she does! It was really great reading this and learning how others get their inspiration and what makes them tick.
Thanks for reading :) I’m glad you enjoyed it. These are probably my favorite posts to write!