Turning my childhood dream into reality

Somewhere between shitting my pants and utter excitement.

Last summer, I was sitting on a plane from Albania to Germany. As Luana started drifting off to sleep, I plugged in my headphones and began evaluating our lives, wondering if we were still on the right path. I pondered what other dreams I had besides traveling the world, and questioned if it was fair that this single dream had consumed my entire life, leaving no room for others.

I dared to ask myself a question that most people, including me, are afraid to confront: What was my biggest dream in life? If I had all the money in the world, knew I couldn’t fail, and would receive unwavering support along the way, what would I be doing?

I quickly realized something that shocked me a little.

My dream wasn’t actually about traveling the world anymore. A sense of relief washed over me as something inside me knew it was time to move on.

Nevertheless, it took me another year to really take this feeling seriously because I had not only built a whole social media following around solo traveling with kids but also, it had become part of my identity. Was I ready to give this up?

While the beat to “Unwritten” was pulsating in my ears, I realized it was about damn time I allowed myself to dream really big. Bigger than I had ever dreamed before.

Actually, there was a dream that had been with me for as long as I can remember.

It was the dream of the 7-year-old version of myself who kept watching the same movie over and over again, picturing herself living this exact life one day.

It was the dream of the 13-year-old version of myself who knew she wanted to live a life that would be very different from her own upbringing.

It was the dream of the 23-year-old version of myself who had just fallen pregnant unplanned and decided this dream would have to wait until her daughter could stand on her own feet.

Now, I was here, 25 years old, sitting on a plane, gazing into the vastness of the sky, realizing nothing in life is promised. If I don’t act on the dream now, it might remain just a dream forever. Although I had no idea how I would turn this dream into reality, I felt such a sense of utter excitement for the future that I knew it was the right road to take. I’d rather fail trying to turn this dream into reality than one day realizing it was too late.

In this very moment, I decided I would move to New York.

What happened just a few minutes after I made the decision still creeps me out and simultaneously fascinates me to this day.

Stay tuned, because in the next letter, I'll be writing about everything that has happened since I had the initial epiphany on the plane.

Keep dreaming,

Sarah xx