“Travelling in the Direction of Fear” In an article entitled “Feel the Fear and Travel Anyways,” college student, Carson Sharp, tells of her experience overcoming fears and anxieties during her cultural experiences while travelling abroad, alone, in Vigo, Spain. She was raised in Southern Georgia and says, “I was raised to be afraid. Of strangers, of straying too far from home, of God’s wrath, of big cities, of women who were prettier than me, of walking to my car alone at night, of pretty much everything.” Fortunately, she states, “The thing I have always been most afraid of is missing out on adventure. So afraid that I headed out. Choosing to surrender to the call of an adventure was only slightly less scary than staying home while the adventure happened …show more content…
Regret is forever.” Sharp acknowledged that, “Despite years of wishing and months of planning I was restless the night before my trip. I barely slept. I woke up early to make the drive to Atlanta to catch my flight to London. I was tired and anxious, but also, relentlessly excited.” Although she appeared to be un-phased by her new surroundings, she was panicking and pacing around her room when she arrived. Luckily, she met to two other international students from California who appeared to be just as overwhelmed as she was. The next day Sharp woke up and said she could feel a huge change in herself. She emphasized, “My body began to adjust, my heartbeat started to sync itself with the rhythms of my surroundings. It is an innate ability of humans to adapt to what surrounds them. It is the most basic of our survival skills to readjust to our environment.” She suddenly began to feel calmer and confidence began to fill her. She goes on to state her true challenge,