Something has become clear to me after so many years on this journey: fear never goes away. No matter how many times you make the decision to jump into the unknown, there’s always that little voice in your head asking, ‘Are you sure you want to do this?’ But the key is to move forward despite it, to take that first step and trust that everything will be okay. Throughout my life, I’ve had to take that step more than once, facing fear in different ways.
The first time I took the leap was at 21 when I decided to travel alone to Mexico. Back then, people around me were saying I was too young to do something like that, barely an adult, haha. And let’s not even get started on everything the media was saying about the country. But something in me knew I needed to break free from the routine.
Let me give you a bit of context. I wanted to start my career in advertising; I was full of energy, but the job offers in Colombia didn’t convince me. Most offered low pay and those unnegotiable conditions. So, after going back and forth on it a thousand times, I decided to look for opportunities abroad. I wanted a life experience, and in my mind, that meant going somewhere new.
So, after a lot of searching, I found an opportunity to do volunteer work as an audiovisual creator with an organization working with indigenous communities.
And that’s how it all began. Without overthinking, I followed my intuition and said, ‘I’m going for it.’ Of course, I knew I was facing a lot of challenges. Basically, I was going to survive in another country on a super tight budget, haha, without my parents, friends, or that support network. But honestly, I felt that was exactly what I needed.
The trip to Mexico taught me that, while fear is powerful, the satisfaction of overcoming it is even stronger. But that wasn’t the only time I stood on the edge of the unknown. Years later, I had to make the decision to return to Colombia, this time with a loved one I’d found in Mexico—Emiliano, my current partner.
Coming back wasn’t easy; it meant starting over, adapting, and finding a path in a country that had changed for me.
And as if that weren’t enough, after some time in Colombia, we decided to take another leap: leave everything behind and travel through Latin America without a dime. We threw ourselves into the adventure by selling drawings and hitchhiking along the roads of a continent that, although familiar, held its own challenges. Each border we crossed was a reminder that uncertainty could be our best ally.
After traveling the continent twice, we returned to Colombia and lived in a hostel for six months. But I realized I no longer wanted that lifestyle, so we hit the road again and ended up living in Quindío. There, I found a space of peace but also a sense of complacency. Everything was perfect—the waterfall 200 meters away, the forest nearby, a seemingly ideal life. And it was precisely that feeling of comfort that made me realize it was time for another leap, this time to Bogotá. I decided to move to continue my university studies and keep growing professionally. Leaving the tranquility of Quindío for the chaos of the city was yet another reminder that fear is always present, but it always brings new opportunities.
Today, here in Bogotá and facing new decisions, I keep recalling each leap into the unknown. Each one was a different journey, full of fear and doubt, but also of growth and the certainty that energy always flows when there’s movement.
Because, at the end of the day, jumping into the unknown doesn’t mean the fear disappears. It means learning to embrace it and trusting that there’s always something waiting beyond, ready to surprise you.