The Letter and the Decision

Okay so, since writing my last post I have received a letter addressed from my friend Sam in The Kingdom of Tonga. It was awesome to have this appear through the letterbox and to open it up, knowing that it had been written on the other side of the world. 

Here is a picture of me with my letter from Sam 

Just so people don't get confused I have Sam, my friend in Tonga and Sam, my cousin in England. There's so many Sams! Hehe.

After reading the letter I decided I needed to reply soon - Sam's letter had been posted on the 22nd of December and it had only arrived in late January! After around 5 days I have finally finished my reply, it's six pages long and explains a bit about my background and what I've been doing since getting back to England; such as finding work and visiting friends. A large majority of my letter was focused around a huge decision I am currently having to make...to travel more or go to university.

I have been struggling with this decision since I have been back. On one hand university is a really valuable experience, and benefits you in the long run. However I also have good opportunities to travel again and that is where my heart is set. For days I have slipped in between the two choices and with friends and family giving me different opinions it has been really hard to decide. Has anyone else struggled with such a decision? Or is currently trying to decide? Let me know!

After about a month or so I sent a message to my older cousin Sam; Sam is an awesome guy, totally chilled and inspirational. We had a conversation regarding what was going on presently in both of our lives and he explained his similar passion for travelling and where he would like to visit. We found that we shared a common interest of travelling and also wished to explore the same places.

Our messages went a little like this: 

Sam: "I want to know all about your trip! We should meet up me you and my bro! xxxxx"

Hayley: "I was going to ask you what your plans where actually!! Regarding the whole travelling thing! I'm in a predicament at the moment and don't know what to do about if I should go to uni (cause I have a place) or travel more :( it's so confusing! Haha xxx 

But yes can we ? That'd be good :) xx"

Sam: "Well I'm going to oz and America the beginning of this year and then I'm guna save more and hopefully either end up in Thailand later on in the year or do some volunteering! But I would love to know about all the things you've done! Where would you go travelling again? I would say do as much travelling as you can when your this age! I still want Togo to uni and I'm 22! You can do that anytime! But yeah we need to meet up! When are you free? xxxxx"

When we met up we discussed mutual places we would like to visit and decided on a possible outline of an idea. Also I must admit I talked for absolutely ages about my travels and stories - poor Sam! 

After having a think for a few more days I had finally made a decision and sent a message to my cousin:

Hayley: Sammy!! I've made up my mind!

Sam: Hahahahha wooooooo

          What have u decided?

Hayley: Shall I start growing my dreads now or? ;)

Sam: Hell yeah cuzzeeeeee

Ah! So now to start my research! 

We have decided on three main places that we would like to visit Thailand, Australia and Tonga. If anyone has any tips or extra information on any of these places it'd be great to hear from you. Obviously I have already visited Australia and Tonga but any extra help would be awesome.

While I was trying to make this major decision in my life I found some pretty apt quotes which brought me some inspiration and will hopefully bring some to other people:

Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of other's opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary. - Steve Jobs

"I just wanna go on more adventures. Be around good energy. Connect with people. Learn new things. Grow." - Kid Cudi

“The most dangerous risk of all– the risk of spending your life not doing what you want on the bet you can buy yourself the freedom to do it later.” - Randy Komisar

So now the hard work begins, saving up and working almost every day to make this happen.

One last thing. I have learnt from meeting many different people around the world that lots of people want to travel but believe it is near impossible or 'risky' in the idea that it is breaking the norm. 

Well I hope to keep blogging to prove that the world is here to be explored and that it is completely possible and hopefully show that not everyone has to go to university or earn lots of money to achieve their dream.

Stay tuned. 

Peace