“And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom. ” —Anaïs Nin
This journey has been built on one word:
Yes.
Not the easy yes.
Not the convenient yes.
The scary yes —the kind that tightens your chest and wakes up your instincts at the same time.
“Say yes, and you’ll figure it out afterwards. ” —Tina Fey
It started with Costa Rica. Latin America was never on my travel list. Not even close. But something in me said yes anyway and that single yes cracked everything open.
Then the yeses started stacking.
Yes to driving a 1972 Land Rover with shot brakes, a loose transmission, and a steering wheel that felt more like a suggestion than a control system —manual, of course— even though I hadn’t driven stick since my honeymoon in France.
Yes to learning how to drive a motorbike with a passenger, discovering quickly that balance is both a physical and spiritual practice.
Yes to moving to Nicaragua with my Latina “wife ” (long story, real love, wrong paperwork).
Yes to a stranger picking me up and taking me home in Nicaragua —a decision that sounds insane on paper and somehow became one of the safest moments of the trip.
Yes to Spain.
Yes to karaoke (why do I always pick songs that require vocal cords I don’t own?).
Yes to drinking more in 17 nights on one cruise ship than I had in my entire adult life combined.
Yes to wanting to be a Fringe artist —not just a traveler, not just an observer, but a creator.
Yes to the idea that people come into our lives for a reason, —even if they stay for only a moment.
And now there’s one more yes waiting.
“Do one thing every day that scares you.” —Eleanor Roosevelt
A man I met twice in Costa Rica —a South African— invited me to come see the whales during sardine season. That yes scares me. Which is exactly why it matters.
Because every meaningful shift in this journey started with hesitation.
With doubt.
With the quiet voice that says, this might change you.
In a month, this journey will mark two full years before I return home for final rehearsals for my debut at the Fringe.
Two years of movement.
Two years of yeses.
Two years of learning that safety isn’t the same as living.
“Yes is a world, and in this world of yes, live.” —E.E. Cummings
I’ve learned something simple:
When yes feels scary,
when it feels irrational,
when it feels like it might rearrange your life
that’s usually the yes that matters most.
And so far, saying yes has never taken me where I expected.
But it has always taken me where I needed to go.
“Every place I’ve become myself started with a yes I almost didn’t say.” —ChihSang