15 ways to deal with travel dream killers and a couple ass kicks

Sometimes we all need a kick in the ass, often our loved ones need one too. Quite frankly I’m in need of one of those most of all.

Even though I made the decision a while ago, I only recently committed to a start date for my around the World trip.

I made this decision and committed to a date, but I still have many friends and family that are in the dark about my upcoming adventures. In all honesty I don’t really want to deal with it at times.

When I see them, they tell me how lucky I am to have a job and how proud they are of my achievement of the American dream. I secretly cringe at the thought of the whole concept.

Yeah I have the good job and sweet house… in the burbs. I just wanna throw up in my mouth every time I think about it… seriously.

It’s not that I am afraid of telling them, it’s more that I just don’t want to deal with it.

In need of a good ole fashion ass kickin

I posed this question to several much more experienced travelers, in hopes that they might inspire me to jump out of my travelers closet.

What is your best comeback for when your friends, family or co workers
grilled you about your crazy (in their eyes) travel plans?

Here is what they had to said:

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Ant Stone – Trail of Ants

“First off, no one ever questioned my travel plans,they expected it. But.

If they did, I’d probably say something along the lines of: Have a great day at work. “

Love it, straight to the point.

Ant’s Blog: Trail of Ants
Follow him on Twitter: @trailofants
Find Him on Facebook: Trail of Ants

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Raam Dev – Raam Dev

“When I’m on my deathbed, I don’t want to look back and wish that I had been a little more adventurous and that my life had a little more meaning. Instead, I want to feel confident that I lived my life to the fullest, following my heart and experiencing what it means to be human. I want to be a shining example for others to see that life has no blueprint. It has no instruction manual or set path to follow.

Life is a blank canvas. Every one of us is an artist and this life is our ultimate masterpiece. What are you painting?”

Great point, you always regret more, what you didn’t do, then what you did. I’d bet that anyone on their death-bed would tell you the same.

Raam’s Blog: Raam Dev
Follow him on Twitter: @raamdev
Find Him on Facebook: Raam Dev

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Chris Guillebeau – The Art of Non Conformity

“I don’t really have a comeback; I just go anyway and eventually they get used to it.“

Awesome, just do it. If they can’t deal with it then it’s their problem.

Chris’s Blog: The Art of Non Conformity
Follow him on Twitter: @chrisguillebeau
Find Him on Facebook: The Art of Non Conformity

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Karol Gajda – Ridiculously Extraordinary

“Everybody close to me thinks I’m crazy anyway. So nobody ever grilled
me. Nobody had any negative comments.

Either everybody I told about it was supportive or they didn’t really say anything.“

I’m sensing a common theme here, craziness… not the sling blade variety, the good crazy.

A quick side note: Karol has just put together an awesome deal for 23 Business Courses From 23 Successful Entrepreneurs. I’m going through some of the material right now and it’s bad ass.

Karol’s Blog: Ridiculously Extraordinary
Follow Him on Twitter: @karolgajda
Find Him on Facebook: Ridiculously Extraordinary

Jenny Leonard – Where is Jenny

“For the most part people are supportive. However, there are a few key people, usually those closest to you, that will give you resistance. One guy in particular told me that I would only last a week on the road before crying, turning back around, and regretting ever leaving in the first place.

I quickly responded, “I’d regret not trying even more… Isn’t there something that you’ve always wanted to do, but have never done? I’ll never have to live with that regret, you will.”

People don’t like when you challenge their assumptions.“

Exactly, they’re just reflecting their regrets onto you.

Jenny’s Blog: Where is Jenny
Follow Her on Twitter: @whereisjenny
Find Her on Facebook: Where is Jenny

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Phil Paoletta – Phil in The Blank

“Most of my friends and family were cool with the travel plans, so I didn’t need to prepare to many comebacks.

But I did have a co-worker who was absolutely convinced I was going to get HIV if I traveled in Africa. I calmly told her that the HIV/AIDS rate in Washington DC (where we both live and work) is currently higher than that of Ghana, the first country I would be visiting on my trip. She did not bring it up again.“

If we all based our life around what the news said, we would all lock ourselves in the house and never leave.

Phil’s Blog: Phil in The Blank
Follow him on Twitter: @philinthe_
Find Him on Facebook: Phil in the blank

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Jeannie Mark – Nomadic Chick

“Yup, I am crazy.

Because pursuing dreams is braver than hiding underneath fear or criticizing others. So, I’m putting on the backpack and wearing crazy with pride. “

Hell yeah, wear that crazy with pride.

Jeannie’s Blog: Nomadic Chick
Follow Her on Twitter: @nomadicchick
Find Her on Facebook: Nomadic Chick

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Sally – Unbrave Girl

“I’ve been lucky enough to have ridiculously supportive friends and family who have never told me I’m crazy (at least not to my face… I’m sure they talk about me behind my back all the time). Plus, I’ve gotten in the habit of quitting my job every couple of years and running away from home, so, I guess, they’re just used to it.

I’ve only recently had one friend tell me that I should come home and that was because he was worried about me as I was going through some depression at the time. But, overall, everyone’s been really great about it.“

I know that habit well, I’m way past my 3 year max.

Sally’s Blog: Unbrave Girl
Follow Her on Twitter: @unbravegirl

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Colin Wright – Exile Lifestyle

“You’ve got a finite amount of time before you die, so you might as well spend as much of that time doing what you enjoy as possible.

If I’m spending my time doing what I enjoy, who’s crazier: me, or the people who AREN’T?“

Exactly, who’s the crazy one (not the good crazy)?

Colin’s Blog: Exile Lifestyle
Follow him on Twitter: @colinismyname
Find Him on Facebook: Exile Lifestyle

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Kate McCulley – Adventurous Kate

“Most of my family and friends have been extremely supportive and happy for me. One exception is my friend’s boyfriend, who repeatedly asked me, “Are you nuts?!”

My favorite exchange of ours:

Him: “What will you do if the Khmer Rouge rises again?”

Me: “What will YOU do when the Crips take over Los Angeles?”“

I used to live in LA so that one hits home

Kate’s Blog: Adventurous Kate
Find Her on Twitter: @adventurouskate

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Earl Baron – Wandering Earl

“My general comeback is that I simply refuse to live a life full of regrets and since I have a strong desire to thoroughly explore this world, I’m going to make sure that I achieve my travel goals.

I also mention that by traveling to places I know little about and as a result, venturing far outside of my comfort zone, I open myself up to a world of rewarding opportunities that I would never even know existed if I never traveled. I find that it’s quite difficult for people to argue that point “

Most people strive for the comfort zone… I don’t get it.

Earl’s Blog: Wandering Earl
Follow him on Twitter: @wanderingearl

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Erica & Shaun Kuschel – Overyonderlust

“While I wish I was snarky and could come up with come backs, I think in our situation it wouldn’t be the best.

If our families would not have lost everything in the most recent recession, I’m sure they would be a little more supportive in us leaving on something we would like to do.

They are freaked out for our financial future because theirs was just tattered to shambles. Shaun is a good guy and tries to use reason when discussing our plans. I can’t really say much because my parents ignored their dreams to create the life that I was brought up in. My trip, for instance, is something my mother wanted to do. She wanted to be a photographer and travel the world.

If I said anything to her it would open an old wound that I would rather just leave alone.“

I would rather not talk about it to some people myself, just not worth it.

Their Blog: Overyonderlust
Follow Them on Twitter: @Overyonderlust
Find Them on Facebook: Overyonderlust

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Poi & Kirsty – No Place to Be

“Most of our friends and family were pretty understanding as we had been planning it for years. Some of our friends were shocked that we weren’t going to have anything left in the UK to come back to.

“what are you going to do when you get back” – “get a job?”“

It’ll work out right?

Their Blog: No Place to Be
Follow Them on Twitter: @NoPlaceToBe
Find them on Facebook: No Place to Be

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Bethany Salvon – Beers and Beans

“…So many people just go through life living, they never think about living their own life on their terms.

I was never happy doing the 9-5 or working for someone else – that was a pattern my entire life, before I even thought of long term travel. Changing my life around so that travel was the priority gave me a great reason to work really hard for myself and push myself.

I am more motivated now than I have ever been…“

Key phrase being “more motivated”, can’t argue with that.

Beth’s Blog: Beers and Beans
Follow Her on Twitter: @BeersandBeans
Find Her on Facebook: Beers and Beans

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Ayngelina Brogan – Bacon is Magic

“My response was often:

You only get to live life once and as much as I am afraid to go, I’m more afraid of the regret of not going.“

The pain of regret is much greater than the fear of jumping.

Ayngelina’s Blog: Bacon is Magic
Follow Her on Twitter: @ayngelina
Find Her on Facebook: Bacon is Magic

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3 main takeaways

After reading through these responses, I’ve noticed some common threads.

1.In general most people are supportive of our travel aspirations, even if they seem crazy, to them. They might not get it, but they will support it.

2.I’ll make it my bitch… regret that is. OK, they didn’t exactly say that. The consensus seems to be that, regret isn’t an option.

3.I’m among my people, status quo busting rebel freedom fighters… yeah I’m talking about you. You live your life on your terms and that’s just fucking sexy…

You guys rock and I’m honored to know you.

The travel and blogging community is such a bad ass group of people, thanks for participating.

I’m even more fired up about my upcoming adventure and busting the status quo… like a beer can on the forehead of a drunken redneck.

What’s your comeback? Smart ass and extra snarky responses earn extra points… not that I’m keeping score. It’s just more fun that way

Photo By: The Infatuated

Tagged as: american dream, bad ass, crazy, how to deal, the dream, travel, travel planning, world travel, world trips