#16 My Travel Journal - If something isn't working, what do you do?

Stick at it or change direction?

Photo by Brendan Church on Unsplash

We’ve all been there. You find yourself in a situation where the thing you planned to do isn’t quite working out as expected. I’ve written before about when a plan becomes a sham. We’ve changed our travel plans so many times I’ve ran out of fingers and toes to count the occasions up on.

But what do you do when something just isn’t working?

Do you stick it out as planned and try to make it work or do you swiftly change direction?

I think it depends.

You might not have another option to take. And even if there is another option, there could be something preventing you from taking it. We’re lucky that in our current situation we do have options and we can play around with different possibilities. You might stick to something through fear of what others may think or through a fear of perceived failure. I’ve grown to learn however that the people that really matter just want you to be happy. The people who judge your actions, well, they’re not worth the ink these words are written with.

If something isn’t working and you’ve tried thinking of all the things you can do to make it work but to no avail, I don't believe there is harm in recognising that and doing something about it. There is however certainly a time and a place to stick with something. You shouldn't bail on everything because it’s hard. Giving up on something because it’s hard isn’t something I generally advocate for. But the situation we’re in isn't just hard, it feels wrong. It’s not meant to be. And that’s the thing, I think. You need the self-awareness to recognise the difference and to make the call to either stick at it or to make the change. Everyone will deal with it differently, in their own way, with their own reasons.

For me and my husband, spending eight weeks in Morocco is where that line is drawn. It’s just not working. The best of times are outweighed by the worst of times and it’s time to make a change. Like I say, we’re lucky to have options. We’re lucky that we don’t have to stick it out even though our gut is telling us to leave. We never take these decisions lightly, thinking it all through, working through our options.

It takes courage to admit that something isn’t working and to then make a change. I’ve come a long way in my journey with this, where I can be courageous in the face of that perceived failure or other peoples judgements. We are in control of our own lives. We don’t need permission from anyone else to make a change. So with that in mind, our time in Morocco has come to an end. We hopped on a ferry leaving the shores of Africa behind and we’ve made the long arduous journey from Tarifa to Calais. When you read this, we will be in bonny Scotland for a few days before we board another ferry to Ireland where will be spending the few weeks running up to Christmas.

Are we crazy for giving up the southern sunshine for the northern rain? Sure. Are we mad for wanting to give up the travelling and the adventure for a period of downtime? Perhaps.

But it’s about so much more than that.

And, anyway, Ireland is just another adventure! I’ve only ever been to Dublin and this time we’re heading over to the west coast, to County Donegal. I hope you stay tuned as I’m sure I will have some stories to tell…

In case you’re interested, here are our road trips through Morocco and all the way to northern France.

This was our route through Morocco

Our road trip from Tarifa to Calais - it was definitely a long one! We did it over three days then caught the Eurotunnel on the fourth day.