In one of my first posts I mentioned how I came about wanting to travel the world for a few years and the struggle of giving up the career I’d wanted since I was a child.

Studying abroad in Australia and traveling around New Zealand with friends on my way back to the US changed me. I fell in love with traveling and the freedom that came along with it. The ability to wake up and do what you wanted with your day. To constantly move and visit new places and meet new people.

Lake Tekapo, New Zealand. Stunning.

While being a marine mammal trainer had been a dream of mine since I was probably 6 or 7 years old, I now had a new dream that was quickly becoming a strong competitor. Even once I landed a job as a sea lion trainer (and then later as a dolphin trainer) I continued to dream of travel.

Action shot!

Then, after a rough day at work (yes even people with cool jobs who like what they do can have bad days) I googled ‘how much does it cost to travel the world’…and that was the beginning of the end.

A new idea had taken hold in my mind and I knew it wasn’t ever going to let go. I spend hours and hours combing my way through every travel blog I could find and the idea grew even bigger.

One of the blogs, while presenting a post on whether or not a life of long-term travel was for you, asked the question, “If you don’t do this, will you regret it for the rest of your life?”

My mind immediately answered for me - yes. Absolutely.

Thanks to this new idea I could no longer go back to being content with life as just an animal trainer. A life I’d once wanted more than anything. I still loved what I did, but it was no longer enough.

And that leads me to this week’s quote:

Because once my mind had been stretched by this new idea of long-term travel, it was never able to be what it once was. And it took me some time to be okay with that.

But stretching is good for you right? It’s healthy. It’s necessary.

Now my new dream is to eventually combine my two passions: I would love to be a marine mammal trainer at a facility abroad. To live in a new country and learn a new language and culture while still being able to train and work with animals.

Now that would be awesome.

Has this ever happened to you? Has your mind ever been stretched by a new idea so far that there was no chance of it returning to it’s original dimensions?