Ours is Such a Brief Moment on This Earth—Don’t Miss the Best Bits
I try to live my life—and write this blog—on one principle: don’t let the best bits of life pass you by. The truth is, our time here is fleeting. Blink, take time to fuss, and a decade is gone. Get caught up in routine, and before you know it, you’re looking back at missed opportunities, unspoken words, unnecessarily harsh words, and experiences you never gave yourself a chance to have. You miss out on spending time with the people who love you unconditionally.
I think about this often, especially when I hear of classmates, old friends, or family members passing away. Last year, I lost a childhood playmate cousin. Life reminds us constantly: this ride is temporary. Some get lucky, narrowly escaping a close call—like a friend of mine who survived a brain bleed with no lasting damage. Others don’t, like another cousin just 3 years older who passed away in New York. And that reality is what drives me to encourage people, through travel and experiences, to put themselves in environments that push them to become the best version of themselves.
Because the alternative? Living in fear, stuck in circumstances that may never change unless you decide to change them.
Travel as a Path to Transform Yourself
I don’t just write about travel because I love it. I write about it because I believe in its ability to transform people. When you place yourself in unfamiliar cultures, you grow. You realize the world is vast, diverse, occasionally perverse, and yet—somehow—entirely interconnected.
The best moments happen when you take a leap:
- Trying something new for the first time. Maybe it's an activity, a dish, a language, or even a way of thinking. I live in a new country, so I am always eating, cooking new food, meeting new people, doing something I had never done before, or visiting someplace new.
- Stepping outside of your comfort zone. Whether it's hiking through untouched landscapes like my college buddies or navigating a foreign subway system like my colleagues and me in Beijing, growth comes from discomfort.
- Recognizing that life isn’t just about work. We spend so much time chasing careers, money, and validation of our value-seeking recognition for 'excellence.' But at the end of the day, the most valuable currencies we have is time and human connection.
I tell my biological children—and those I’ve mentored—that regrets are inevitable. But I also tell them this: make sure your regrets aren’t about the things you were too afraid to try. Those events in your life help to make you more alert to living and more sure of what you want by experiencing some of what you don't desire.
We Get Stuck in Habits
Some people transform and become better versions of themselves. Most don’t.
I’ve met enough people to know this isn’t always about willpower. Circumstances, fear, and environment play a huge role. If you grow up surrounded by chaos, family fights, and turmoil, you either become comfortable in it or you spend your life running from it. If you grow up needing validation, you chase achievements, status, or beauty to fill a void left by parents who didn’t give you what you needed. I have one former colleague whose mother told her she was ugly. You can imagine the mess created for her as an adult who has not found a way to shed that maternal shame.
We all have our programming. Some of us break free from it. Others live within its prison walls, never questioning it. We all have good and bad programming. What do you think are yours?
That’s why I’ve always been wary of dogmas—of rigid systems that tell you exactly how you should live, love, and think. Dogma strips away creativity and enslaves free thought, replacing it with rules meant to serve those in power, not those seeking fulfillment.
To truly live, you have to break out of whatever cage was built around you—whether by family, society, or even yourself.
How to Find Freedom
For me, travel is the ultimate tool for self-discovery. But exploration can take many forms.
I have friends in Antigua who never left the island to live anywhere else. They hike every weekend, exploring nature in ways that keep them vibrant, youthful, and connected to the world around them. That’s their form of discovery. I have others who take up hobbies like sewing or pottery to do something new and innovative. So, it does not even have to be travel.
For me, returning to Antigua is always a nostalgic reset—seeing family, reconnecting with childhood friends, and revisiting the rolling hills I used to roam as a kid. I remember picking mangoes, picking acacia (aka cassi thorns) from my foot, swimming until my skin was wrinkled, and racing through neighborhoods on my bike with my cousin—only to be chased by angry dogs defending their turf. These weren’t luxury vacations, but they were some of the best moments of my life.
That’s what living is. It’s not about money all the time. It’s about moments.
Stop Overthinking and Start Living
If I had one message to leave you with today, it would be this: go live.
- Stop waiting for the perfect moment. There is none!
- Stop thinking there’s some “right” way to do life. "I need to analyze more!"
- Stop assuming you have all the time in the world. You don't!
I started truly valuing life when I lost my mother when she was 41 years old. When I turned 42, I felt like I was on borrowed time. "How is it possible I am on this planet longer than my mother," I asked myself in disbelief. I’ve since moved past that feeling, but it left a permanent mark: don’t waste a single moment.
Whatever brings you joy, go after it now. Whatever new experience is calling you, answer. Because ours is such a brief moment on this earth. Don’t let the best bits pass you by.
Take the First Step Toward Living Fully
Feeling inspired? Good. Now do something about it:
✨ Book that trip. Use my Expedia Widget below to help you find the right spot.
✨ Try that thing you’ve been too nervous to attempt.
✨ Reconnect with someone you miss.
✨ Step outside your routine and embrace the unknown.
If you want more stories and insights on how to live fully through travel and experiences, subscribe to my blog, and let’s make the most of this fleeting journey together.
If you need help deciding where to go and what to do, set up a time to chat with me on this link.
Antiguan sights. Photos by author and Eurel Hodge
Member discussion