7 Lessons I Learned After Selling Everything To Travel The World

How I changed my life and became a new person

In June 2019, I sold most of my possessions, canceled everything I had in the US, and left Denver (my home of five years) to move to Europe and travel full-time.

In just a few months, my life transformed: I felt a renewed sense of passion and confidence previously lacking, crossed off numerous bucket list items, and overhauled many areas of my life (despite currently being isolated in Albania throughout the COVID-19 pandemic).

I’ll share the most powerful things I learned along the way — regardless of your ability to travel, if you’re feeling stuck, you’re ready to try something new, or you’re just looking for a kick in the ass, these lessons will help you on your journey.

1. Change Your Life By Changing Your Environment

Here’s the decision that helped me accomplish all these things and accomplish them faster:

Leaving Denver.

Back there, I had a comfortable life. I loved my home, neighbors, hobbies, and even the people who bagged my groceries. So why did I leave it all? To me, life is about learning, growing, being challenged, and rising to that challenge. One of my highest aims in life is becoming a worldly, cultured person. But despite how much I loved Denver (and I really do), after 5 years of exploration, I felt I hit my ceiling.

Without the level of worldliness, culture, diversity, excitement, or variety as I wanted, I felt like I was stagnating. Now, in Europe, all I have to do is walk outside and there I am.

What sounds better: Expend a ton of energy and willpower to achieve something in your current, limited environment or simply go to an environment where “something” is normal and plentiful?

Benjamin Hardy, the author of Willpower Doesn’t Work, explained how your environments shape and determine your future; not your “willpower:”

It’s easy to predict where people are going in their lives. Your environment reveals you, both to yourself and to other people. Perhaps the clearest indicator of your internal identity is your external environment. If you are comfortable in certain environments, what does that say about you?

So look around you. Look at your environments. Your friends. Your home. Your lifestyle. Your routines. Your food. Your city.

Are they helping you achieve your goals? Are they keeping you at the same level? Are they hurting you?

Change your environments to align with what you want, and you’ll have to adapt, improve, and become a different person because of it.

Looking back, I could see I was trying to willpower my way through the environment in which I put myself. That’s when I decided it was time to leave and go to a place that aligned with what I wanted to achieve.

None of what I accomplished would’ve been possible if I didn’t leave.

I’m not saying you have to move to a different country permanently; I’m saying be more intentional about how your life is structured to push you to what you want to achieve.

2. Set Higher Standards In Your Life

Since I came to Europe, it felt like I hit warp-speed with my life. It made me realize how slow I was going before and how I needed to set a higher standard in the areas I wanted to accomplish in my life.

Here’s a (very) weird example:

I like fashion. I don’t know what it is, but looking fashionable — for myself, not for others — is something I enjoy. In Denver, however, I would sometimes feel a bit self-conscious because, well, I didn’t think the fashion standards were very high. (That is to say if people aren’t wearing dress clothes to their job.)

Just by throwing on a blazer and a nice pair of shoes, you can usually be the best-dressed person — anywhere in the city.

Some might think, “Oh, that’s good; you’ll stick out.”

Not for me. Because then, I stop learning.

If my goal is to “stick out,” that’s one thing. But if my goal is to “learn and grow,” I’m selling myself short.

“If you’re the smartest person in the room, you’re in the wrong room.”

— Marissa Mayer

In Europe? The fashion standards are much, much higher.

One of the first things I did was change my wardrobe and buy new clothes. Now, I dress far nicer than I ever did before.

It’s an odd example, but here’s why I bring this up:

Think about all the “standards” in your life — the ones you have in your relationships, your career, your health, your appearance, etc. Are those standards helping you reach your goals, or are your standards simply “getting by?”

To achieve something, it’s critical to set a higher standard within you because it’ll shape what you think is possible and what you can achieve.

If you measure yourself to the “average,” you’ll only ever be average.

If you measure yourself to the “elite,” you’ll unlock far more possibilities.

And over time, your standards will filter what happens in your life.

3. Make Decisions Faster

I’ve noticed many people rarely make decisions that matter — they spend a disproportional amount of time on decisions that have very little impact on their life.

I’ve realized when I’m hesitating; it’s not because it’s a hard choice; it’s because I’m scared to make a real decision. Because here’s the hard truth:

When someone says, “they can’t decide,” that’s a lie.

It’s that they’re scared to commit, and they want two things at once: They want the “better future” and “play it safe” at the same time. But you can’t. When you make a real choice, you’ll have to say “no” to other things.

Should I move to a new city or should I stay here? Should I change careers, or should I wait? Should I start my business, or should I not?

Instead, they avoid making a choice while time passes by.

5 years later, they still haven’t made a hard decision, yes or no.

When you make a real decision, you’ve forced yourself to act in a way that changes everything moving forward. Once you commit to your choice, burn the ships, and don’t look back, the future will take care of itself.

It’s scary to be that committed to something. But that’s why many people don’t live their ideal lives: They don’t commit.

After I (finally) decided to leave the US, the rest was easy. Selling my car, donating my possessions, canceling my lease, etc. I did it and didn’t think twice.

The hardest part was simply deciding.

4. There’s No Good Or Bad

Previously, I tended to judge myself, others, and the situations I find myself in. But I’m working on being more present and less judgmental. Things are just as they are, after all.

For example, people often ask me, “Do you like it in Europe?”

It’s a surprisingly hard question to answer. There are things I like about my journey, but my journey isn’t about “like” or “dislike.”

Being here is an experience, and I’m here to experience it.

If I start saying, “Yeah, I like it,” the second I stop liking it, what happens?

It’s going to be a bumpy ride. I’ll become fixated on making sure I keep liking it instead of just being present and viewing what’s around me without judgmental glasses — good or bad.

I’ll get more attached to every high and low of my journey, and my emotions will look like a seismogram.

In the words of W. Timothy Gallwey in The Inner Game of Tennis:

“It’s not about the win or the loss; if we are here to experience, then we are free.”

5. Decide Who You Want To Be

“To begin with the end in mind means to start with a clear understanding of your destination. It means to know where you’re going so that you better understand where you are now and so that the steps you take are always in the right direction.” — Stephen R. Covey

I didn’t actually move to Europe because I want to “travel the world.” (It’s a secondary motivation.)

I’m also not here because “I have the option,” because “I should do it while I’m still young,” or because “I’m trying to find myself.”

I’m here because I know exactly who I want to be. I know how I see myself and how I want to see myself. So I simply made the adjustment to align my life with that vision.

Before I moved, I did a lot of thinking and journaling. I even asked several friends I trusted, and they usually responded by asking:

“What’s your goal? 10 years from now, looking back, what do you want to achieve?”

I realized life wasn’t just about the achievements I want in 10 years — having $X by a certain age, buying a home, writing a book, getting married, etc.

It’s also about all the things that happen between “now” and “10 years from now” that make all the difference.

Learning other cultures. Challenging myself. Exploring and experiencing new worlds. Shattering my comfort zones. Helping others.

If I were purely motivated by the few goals I want in 10 years, I would’ve never left Denver. (After all, I don’t need to sell my stuff and move abroad to write a book, buy a home, etc.)

I’m motivated, however, by growth and who I wanted to be in 10 years.

So I made the move.

To truly transform your life, it’s about changing who you are and being that person for the rest of your life.

Who do you want to be?

6. Remember Gratitude

When traveling — especially during the pandemic and global lockdowns — there have been good times and bad. I’ve had generous support from many, many people worldwide, and I’m incredibly grateful for all of it.

Remember the power of our environments. We are all products of them.

So as you reshape your environments to become a different person, and achieve your dreams, give some credit to those surroundings.

7. Remove All Distractions

I’ve noticed the people who struggle most with their lives are the ones who are constantly “busy” with things that are, at best, distractions.

They’re like drugs — situational “uppers” in your life to give them a jolt of positive and excitement from the otherwise ho-hum existence. Yet these distractions move them no closer toward your goal. (That’s if they even have a goal or want that goal badly enough to change their life.)

Heck, years from now, these moments will be a vague memory in their relatively consistent experience.

But if you want to transform your life, you have to transform your life.

Everything has to be different.

People have asked me how I left Denver, moved to Europe, and blasé blah. But the true answer is, from what I see, the one thing that most people who are stuck refuse to do:

Sit down and figure it out.

Push everything else aside until you answer these questions. No Facebook. No Instagram. No parties. No concerts. No vacations. No movies.

I used to spend my weekends driving to a coffee shop far away from my home first thing in the morning, read something inspiring, and write for hours. I’d lose all track of time, but when I finished, I had something real.

I had something that came from the deepest parts of my mind and heart and was going to lead me to where I wanted to go.

If you want to change your life, start there.

I wish you the best of luck.

If you want to upgrade your health, happiness, and productivity and avoid sabotaging mistakes — get your 5 free life hacks here.