Ok, here I am claiming I have a wonderful vacation life. And it is true! I’m now 33 years old – Jesus age – and can say my years BC (Before Current) were, truly, wonderful and mostly vacationing. You might be wondering how I did it, so the time has come for me to reveal my truth.

I was born in Brazil at a family considered ‘upper middle class’ – which is actually lower-mid if you compare to first world countries. We had a comfortable life, but far from being rich. My first international trip was when I was ten: mom took us to Disney World at a time that traveling abroad was quite a luxury, something one could maybe do every three to five years.

I started working when I was 16, doing promo or reception at events – which was great as it was based on short-term contracts that gave me the chance to take time off whenever I wanted. Lesson one: a flexible work schedule is very helpful if you are looking to have a vacationing life.

At 20, I went on my first backpacking trip and got the travel bug. I worked a lot, but always freelancing. Soon I was already planning my second long trip – backpacking on the Northeast coast of Brazil – and a third one, Central America.

That was all before graduating. I did live with my mom, but after I turned 21 I started paying monthly rents for her (which is very fair, kids!). I always saved money though, and still do, so I could keep doing small trips whenever I could.

BUT THE REAL HONEST FACT HERE is one, so true that is actually called a law: the Law of Attraction. The energy that surrounds us and makes things happen like miracles, or luck, or will, or whatever you’d like to call it.

After that soul awakening time in Machu Picchu, I knew about it. The universe could hear me, and I started testing it. I’d say things like: ‘I should finally go to Rio de Janeiro’ and boom: a contest to work as a journalist in Rio came up, I applied and gave my all, and got it. Spent 45 days there. Next, I thought: “would love to go to Buenos Aires.” No kidding: a work trip to BA came up just a few days later.

Next was a great one: my best friends were meeting in Italy – one was living there, and the other was going for a visit – and I wished I could too. Guess what? A company I regularly worked for invited me to go to Germany for an event, and the dates were exactly the ones that my friends were there. Luck?

I will tell you more about it. That was just the start. The universe went as far as sending me on a year-long trip around the world.

So yes, I do deeply believe in the Law of Attraction – and so should you. Although you can’t just ask for it and sit around waiting for someone to knock on your door, ask you to come out and fulfill your dream. You have to ask, and then follow the signs. Lesson two: If there is a will, there is away. Get it?

Lesson three: the world is revolving under the same energy, the same mass that will eventually make your dream come true, so you must send the positive force for those around you. In other words, be nice. Be kind to people, all people, and they will send your way even more great vibrations. That is the path to get the universe working for you.

So, back to my wonderful vacation life: when I first started traveling, I had very little money to do it, but a lot of good will and energy. So I’d ride the bus instead of flying (36h was my longest road trip), I’d camp or stay in hostels for as little as $5 day, I’d eat a lot of 99c noodles. And I had SO MUCH FUN. I’d talk to everyone, I’d hitchhike, I would help street vendors selling their stuff for a bite to eat or a drink. I was with three or four friends at the time, and people loved us. They just loved our energy. So we were invited to eat for free, to get into parties for free, even to camp in their backyards. Free.

You might be thinking: it was just the magic of being young and pretty. Fine, maybe there was a bit of that. But I guarantee that being fun, smiley and nice will open doors around the world.

You can trust the goodness of people without being naïve. I will always trust that the majority of mankind is good. And then, trust the universe. Talk to the sun. Meditate.

I was almost graduating university, and people would ask me: what do you wanna do next? I always just said: travel. I wanted to travel the world, and I knew I would, I just wasn’t sure how. One day, getting to class, two friends came with the answer: Luiza, have you seen the contest that’s selecting one person to travel the world, for a year?

That was it. I knew that was destined to me. I applied for it, went through the selection process and won. Selected among 5000 people. It was luck, but it was also part of the energy I had thrown out there: people that knew me, and knew my dream, helped me win (voting, sharing, etc).

That trip changed my life. I met my husband, moved to Canada. Now, I work for an airline. Lesson four: working for an airline really helps.

Anyway. I’m not saying that you need to win a contest to be able to travel the world. It happened to me, but there are thousands of travelers out there that made it happen in different ways: travel bloggers, frequent business travelers that accumulate miles to vacation, nomads that manage to make some money out there, lucky people that can work remotely, etc. You really just need one thing: want it.

 

What about you? How did you do it? How will you do it?

Send me your thoughts. I will be sending you my good energy 💫 💫