Travel Gives Us The Opportunity To Overcome Fear

"We must travel in the direction of fear." -John Berryman

Fear is essentially an unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that something is dangerous, or the feeling of anxiety concerning the outcome of something. We all have fears, both big and small, but there is something magical about vacations that give us the courage to push through and conquer those things. Earlier this year, I was given the opportunity to watch my nephew do just that.

In January of 2020 I hopped (actually I think I physically skipped) onto a Carnival Cruise Ship along with my mother, sister, and ten year old nephew. This was his very first cruise and we were all so very excited! The rest of us have all cruised multiple times before, but we knew that this week together was going to be special. It definitely lived up to it's expectations, in more ways than one.

One thing to note about my nephew is that he is generally pretty fearless. He's a fantastic football player and has been doing tricks on his bike and scooter at the skate park since he was five. But one thing that gets him (and so many of us), is a bit of a fear of heights.

With being such an active sports kid, these ropes courses seem right up his ally. He has tried three different times prior to this at other locations. Each try ended up with coming right back down without making it across more than one obstacle. However, on this magical day aboard the Carnival Sunrise, he finally did it!

He got harnessed up and walked up the steps like it was no big deal. His mom and I were waiting anxiously below seeing how he was going to do. He slowly but surely made that first step, and then another, and then without hesitation he made it across the whole first obstacle! Not only did he make it across that one, he went through the whole ropes course THREE TIMES! This is something he has always wanted to do and this vacation opened up the opportunity for him and he took it!

This was such an inspiring and memorable moment for me, so much so that later in the week I even got up there myself! Now let me put this in context for you, this ropes course is fairly high off the ground on the very top of a 13 story cruise ship, in the middle of an ocean. I also have a fear of heights but had always wanted to try this ever since I chicken out at 6th grade camp.

My nephew and I were spending a few hours just him and I and he wanted to do the ropes course again. I put on my tennis shoes too, you know, just in case. As he was harnessing up, I had a classic YOLO moment. You only live once and the opportunity is staring you in the face, go for it! So shakily I stepped into the harness, followed this now ropes course pro up the stairs, and stepped foot on the first rope. I'm not going to lie, I was terrified the first few minutes. I was shaking so the rope was shaking and I thought about giving up. But man, he was going so fast! I pushed past my fears and finished the full course. I also lapped that thing three times! What a rush it is after you break that initial boundary. It was such a fun way to experience something new and spend quality time with the coolest kid I know! (I unfortunately don't have any picture of my own overcoming fear moment, but he is cuter anyways!)

Travel gives opportunities, opportunities give us experiences, and experiences give us memories. Try something new on your next trip, you'll be glad you did!