Hi Libby!
I read your post and wanted to support you. My first big trip happened in the mid-80’s. I was teaching at a University and felt like I was dying there. My love was inspiring people to learn, not play politics. After my third year, I resigned and put all my things in storage. My original plan was to cycle through Europe however I realized I wanted to see more of my own country first.

Once I resigned, it felt like 40 friends and acquaintances came out of the woodwork to let me know what a stupid and crazy idea I had. I was leaving a secure, solid and potentially tenure track position to do WHAT??? My uncle walked out of the room when I stopped to visit and would not talk about with me about my plans. He was retired military, sat in front of his computer monitoring investments, and pinching pennies. That was satisfying to him but would be deadly to me!

What happened for me through the criticism is I got even more clear about “WHY” I was doing what I was doing. I wanted to expand my life, experience more, interview interesting people and get clearer about what to do next.

And I realized a lot of that criticism was because those people had two choices. One, go internal and reflect on whether they were living a meaningful life and doing what really spoke to them. Or, decline that opportunity and instead, make me wrong. That way they could remain comfortable in the routine of their life.

One friend old me she admired my courage. That struck me as strange? It didn’t feel like courage. What I felt was so clear, it was the thing to do!

Be clear on what you are clear about. Let go of the need to defend yourself. It might help for you to watch Simon Sinek’s TedTalk, “Start With Why”, to get clearer on your “why”.

Two things helped me stay focused. First was the quote from Socrates, “Wherever you go, there you are.” I wanted to be fully me wherever I was!

Second, I felt early in my planning that I might be running away which meant I would take everything uncomfortable with me. So I shifted and decided to move toward. What is my intention? What do I want to move closer to in my life?

I traveled 15 months, stayed in hotels twice, was invited into people’s home, got to interview amazing people, went through a “vision quest” with Sun Bear, and had magic seemingly prepare my way. I wish the same magical experience for you.

Yes…live the life YOU dream of! Yay!

Hi Libby,
I’ve been largely lucky in not receiving criticism from family/friends about my lifestyle, but recently a family friend attacked a part of my lifestyle by saying it’s “horse shit” before I even had a chance to explain it. I was livid for days. So I understand!
As you observed, usually people who criticize are coming from their own place of judgement, unhappiness in their lives, and even feeling threatened by and/or envious of your ability to break out of the box. So don’t take these things too personally – it’s their problem, not yours! 🙂

Wow is right. A friend of mine who appears, at minimum, complacent, burnt out and comfortably miserable, talks down to me every time I dream of a location independent life around her. “Why can’t you just have a job and travel a lot?” “People who make money at [x dream mobile career here] worked a full time job first and are really lucky.” Etc. I realize her criticism veiled in realism stems from her feeling like i’m attacking her life by not following suit into misery and her need for stability mixed with her desire to write books, essentially I know that in actuality it has nothing to do with me, but it really grinds my gears that she (and everyone else who’s miserable) is so quick to want me to be miserable too. Admittedly I don’t know exactly what my alternative life looks like, and I do need some financial stability and to visit home a lot, but I’ve been working a full time job for a few months now and I’m already burnt out. It seems it really irks people that I could possibly imagine (or have researched thoroughly) having a life that doesn’t follow the miserable norm and are quick to make me feel like it’s a wrong choice. I’m working on TEFL as my next adventure while building a sustainable mobile career. Even if I take that career back to Minnesota for long stints of time, being mobile and running my own show is important to my ambition and emotional well being. All this to say, probably the first time I saw that cartoon I cried a little because there are so many people like my friend in my life and someone else got it. That same friend has been working full time for six years now and has absolutely no savings. She lives in a dirt cheap apartment and her car and her education are paid for – so all that money went? I don’t care where she spends her money or if she wants to be a part of consumerist misery – but I’d sure like it if she didn’t criticize my desire to have a more minimalist life that has room for adventure rather than things. (Not that I don’t enjoy a few luxuries that capitalism provides .) wow I sound really angry in this. I think I have some pent up anger toward her on this front. I’m sure once I’m off on the next adventure I’ll be less concerned with her criticism. So sorry for the negative vibes. :/

Great cartoon, Libby – thanks for sharing!
Favourite line: “Ambition is only understood if it’s to rise to the top of some imaginary ladder of success”. Wow!

😀

Like the fisherman story – this is a western story – but I saw a nonfictional cartoon once where an illustrator, though feeling pressure to move up in his career as editor or whatever, decided that what he really wanted was to be a stay at home dad and to his colleagues’ and family’s surprise he quit his job, started a modest freelance gig and got to spend tins of time with his daughter.

On my road to minimalism and not letting western culture suck me in, that cartoon was a reminder that i can live simpler in the US too if I choose to stay – though I probably won’t. 🙂

Thank you, Nathan! It has been a while since I read this post – so I thank you for reminding me of it!

While he opines, someone shouts: “Of the beauty and the beast.” “Hey who said that?”

Much of the history of human bodies shows that our “doing good” resulted in polluting the very atmosphere. The ongoing industrial revolution and it’s propents, surely Dickens would agree, had not idea that it would literally pollute and possibly poison the atmosphere. Thanks for doing good, and thanks for the efficiency.

While he opines, someone shouts: “Of the beauty and the beast.” “Hey who said that?”

The superman concept exists in many of the “developed” societies, and also within me at times. In those moments I kick myself. Hey, I try to be aware. As if the world would be doomed without these superman or superwoman. There was a time when there were no human bodies that roamed the earth. Surely, the unknown is very powerful.

In conclusion, there is also a natural superman that exists everywhere. It is as natural as when your eyelids shut automatically when sensing an object close to the eye. It is as natural as the chameleon changing colours. Just like when you reach out automatically to support a “stranger” or a friend or a relative when they are about to trip and fall. That superman comes from the heart, and is natural as the roots of a tree extending upwards and becoming the branches and leaves.

While he opines, someone shouts: “Be well, stay happy, and keep on smiling.”.” “Hey who said that?”