Leap of Faith - How I Faced My Travel Fears Head On

Confidence. Faith. Belief.

Many people may face travel fears; however, I believe confidence, faith, belief, and the overall commitment to giving your best when traveling will help conquer any fears that may arise. During my time in Cape Town, South Africa, I made a promise to stretch myself as much as I could to truly embrace my experience.

I conquered my fears by intentionally placing myself in uncomfortable situations and fully embracing them!

I made it a point to immerse myself into South African culture and connect with as many people possible!

I pushed myself to seek new opportunities to learn!

As a result, my travel fears were conquered, and I left my experience with my cup overflowed with gratitude.

Embracing uncomfortable situations truly enhanced my growth. Not knowing how to speak some of my peers’ first languages, starting the semester off at a new school without knowing anyone, talking about global racism in my psychology class, and inherently sounding different from everyone were all uncomfortable circumstances. However, those experiences helped me grow.

For example, I started to ask some of my peers to teach me their first language, I initiated conversations with other students on campus to enhance my social experience, I shared authentic stories about my experience with racism in America, and I showed up as my authentic self everywhere I went.

These factors allowed me to conquer my travel fears.

This led me to sign up for the tennis club, radio station club, a bible study group, and I stayed in contact with any new friends I made. Signing up for a variety clubs allowed me to develop friendships with many South Africans naturally and with ease. Upon developing these friendships, I learned more about the school I was studying at, South African history, and my peers’ experiences in South Africa. I vividly remember having a conversation with one of the friends I made here and he informed me about the history of racism in South Africa, present day problems with racism, and how the school systems in his province, the Free State, continue to develop tactics to provide barriers to a quality education for Black South Africans and other ethnic groups. I had many learning experiences such as this one that contributed to a well-rounded experience.

Moving forward, I consistently sought out new learning opportunities to also conquer any travel fears that were present. I signed up for a community development course and volunteered with three NGOs. This course and service-learning initiative allowed me to learn more about South African politics, education, economy, history, and culture. As a result, I connected with my peers better due to an increased amount of knowledge about their country and they greatly appreciated my efforts. One of the best things I think anyone can do to conquer any travel fears upon traveling to a new country is to research the country’s history, culture, and language. This will help you immerse yourself more effectively into the culture of the country one is visiting. Additionally, I visited the Apartheid museum in Johannesburg, picked my peers’ brains about their experience as South Africans or international students who were African but were not South African, engaged with fellow American students about their experiences, and connected with representatives of the NGOs I worked with. Again, seeking out new learning opportunities distracted me from focusing on how far away from home I was, not being at my home institution, and having to start all over at a new school in a new country.

Ultimately, I embraced the uncertainty of my experiences in South Africa because it is through uncertainty where we grow the most and international travel presents a lot of uncertainties. More importantly, it presents a once in a lifetime opportunity to connect with the global world, learn about many different cultures, establish global friendships and connections, and redefine the meaning of life and our position or purpose outside our existence in our “home countries.” Traveling internationally is such a beautiful experience regardless of the many uncertainties, and I can assure anyone that with confidence, faith, and belief, you will conquer any travel fears with ease!