The other day, I remembered a moment during my first date with my first boyfriend. We were sitting at a diner booth and I was explaining how I wanted to go travel the world. I will never forget his cynical response: “Not to rain on your parade, but how do you expect to fund that?” That was ten years ago.

Today, I’m traveling the world.

My entire life, I have been a controlling, detail-oriented planner. I never jump into things; I like to research, watch someone else try it, or read the instruction manual first. I love trying new things – as long as by the time I get to them, they’re no longer that new.

For ten years, I have been getting myself in an emotional, physical, and financial place to be able to take off and travel the world. This has included nervous breakdowns, 2 years worth of injury-born physical therapy, 13-some jobs, and moving back in with my parents. So why now?

Four years ago, a friend of mine packed up her car with her girlfriend and road-tripped from New Orleans to Vancouver, British Columbia for the Women’s World Cup. Since then, she has discussed her plans to attend the next one in France in 2019. As a francophone who studied abroad in Lyon for 6 months and played soccer for 16 years, my interest was certainly piqued.

Come 2018, my friend and I start talking more seriously about heading to France. As my savings started to look optimistic, I began to wonder:

Should I take all my vacation time and spend the last two weeks of the World Cup in France?
Should I take a leave of absence from work and spend the whole month in France?
Or should I quit my job and go travel the world indefinitely?

In January of 2019, the death of my grandfather reminded me that none of us know how much time we have on this earth. If you want to do something, do it now.

Everyone seems to agree with that, too. From family and friends, to sales reps helping me prepare, to strangers I’ve already encountered along the way, everyone has the same response to my news of taking off to travel the world:

“Well, now is the time to do it.”

So for 6 months my over-preparing self has been going pretty crazy. What if I don’t have enough money? What if I get lost or hurt? What if I forget something important? What if I fail?

At this point, I’ve set up and looked into enough alternatives and safety nets to at least quiet these questions. Mostly though, I’m trying to focus on this as an opportunity to grow out of my comfort zone, to connect with myself, and to discover things I never could have imagined.

Even with all the preparation, I still don’t feel ready, and at this point I’m doubting I ever will. But I’ve already left, so here we go.

The plan is to have no plan: travel to France for the World Cup and then go wherever the cheapest flights take me until I run out of money or don’t enjoy what I’m doing anymore. Record my experiences here. Share for the people who have said to me, “I wish I had done that” or “If I had the courage/money/time, I would love to do that.” We don’t all get and/or create the opportunity to do something like this. So for those who want to, but never will – whatever the reason may be – buckle up and follow along.

Now is the time. I wonder where I’ll go.