How Much is Your Fear Worth - How About $2000?

by Tasha in Pre-trip, Budgeting

I want to tell you a secret.

I am afraid.

I normally try and spin pretty words and appear like the confident gal who has all her ducks in a row, but the truth is, I am very very afraid.

Fear can be a great motivator. It's fear of being eaten alive that helps you sprint away from the lions and tigers and bears chasing you. It's fear that makes you backup all your computer data in triplicate just incase of a virus. and its fear as a child that makes you pause for a second to realise perhaps wearing a superman costume does not in fact, make you fly. These are all good fears.

And there are bad fears - fear of a religion that you don't understand, fear of someone who speaks another language - these are all universal fears that most agree shouldnt belong in our 21st century world. But I digress, for none of these are the reason I am afraid.

I am afraid of change.

I am afraid of failing.

I am afraid of known dangers

I am afraid of the unknown

photo by: moyan_brenn

I am afraid of selling all our belongings and then realising we want to stay. I am afraid of becoming hopelessly lost in a land with no money, and where I don't understand the language. I am afraid of being arrested for something I didnt realise I was doing wrong. I am afraid of being scammed. I am afraid of losing touch with my loved ones. I am afraid of dying, or moreso of alex dying. I am afraid of volcanos.

For good reasons - or silly ones. I am afraid.

Fear can be a hard thing to admit. Especially knowing that i have friends and coworkers and family who read this blog and may look at me a little differently tomorrow. But that is my fear to overcome. What is the point of fear if it doesnt drive you forward. If fear stops you from being yourself, or doing what you want to do. Ask Nomadic Matt, as he so elloquently says "Fear. It’s what keeps us from living our lives and achieving our dreams."

photo by: moyan_brenn

Fear holds you back from logically choices into easier ones. Fear makes you justify your choices when who the hell cares if you screw up.

Fear almost cost me over $1800 in travel decisions. 

When Alex and I were originally putting pins in our map of everywhere we want to go, we realised a line was forming around the globe. There were two obvious start points. Eastern Europe or South East Asia.

The logical choice would be to start in Bangkok - as its only a short flight from Australia and therefore flights can be pretty cheap. Also starting at this point minimises the amount of long-hauls needed - which add up. But South East Asia life and bustle are about as far from home as we could get and that's confronting.

photo by: nathan o'nions

Of course - the scaredy cat that I am. I chose Latvia in Eastern Europe. At least within the captial, Riga, there are english speakers, and it is more aesthically western and therefore familar. However the giant downside is that we then double back quite a lot to Asia - so there are more transit costs and it costs a lot more to take the initial jump over.

But as I've started working out a realistic budget for us and realised that taking the easier safer route was going to cost us a minimum $1800 extra!

Almost $2000 for a little peace of mind! That's the price of my fear.

So, come November 2013 Alex and I are jumping on the first flight to Bangkok.

 My fear was worth $2000.

What is the price of your fear?

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