Notes From the Editor: Do you Embrace the Prospect of ‘Change’ into Your Life & Travels?

“One day your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure it’s worth watching.”

A travel buddy and I used to have a saying that we’d use every now and again to encourage the other to make a big decision that was scary or daunting. “What would be best for the book?” The idea was that one day, when we were old and grey, we would write a biographical tale about all our adventures and we must make sure that the content was as exciting as possible! Could Shantaram have been written if the author had have stayed at home in his PJ’s infront of the telly? Point taken. It’s easy to stay in one place. It’s easy to stick with the familiar and comfortable. It’s even easier to stay in and live vicariously on Facebook every night. But what if deep down you fancy a change? What if you harbour ambitious thoughts of travel, adventure and a life of spontaneity? You probably do because you are reading this magazine right now. And what if what you are contemplating leaving behind something that is perfectly good. A relationship, a job, a home? Why change something that isn’t broken? Why shake things up? Why head into the great unknown, which contains so much risk, possible danger and downfall. Why not just stand still? As Steve Jobs said: “Remembering you are going to die is the best way to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.” Every backpacker learns how to deal with change quickly. You meet best friends who become distant memories of your travels within weeks. You fall in love, fall in love again and then alas – it is time to hitch on the backpack and move to a new place. You have found the perfect beach, the perfect hostel, the perfect chill out bar… but you’re a backpacker – you must move on! There is more perfection to be found and transience is the name of this game. Many of you probably left behind family and good friends back home, a life that compared to many is enviable. Many of you probably have notions to return home eventually. Some of you perhaps don’t. All of you at some point – desired change. A yearning inside of you that made you step on that plane and seek something different in the first place.

Packing up- not so easy to fit life back into a suitcase. 

So have you found what you have been looking for? In some ways, I bet you have. In some ways, maybe no. So you must change again, move on, shake things up, keep exploring. In order to keep moving and keep growing, change is always necessary. The secret is to be still discovering new things when you are 90 – no? The anticipation of a big change has been lingering in the air of the S.E.A Backpacker office in Chiang Mai recently. As soon as it was felt, we knew deep down that we must follow our hearts and obey the backpacker spirit that brought us here in the first place. So, we shut the office. We took our laptops to the road and became nomadic again. We hired new team members. Revamped our distribution list. Visited the remote jungles of Borneo. Started new projects that had been threatening at the bottom of the to do list for months. We hit the road. We visited Australia and Europe. We started three new websites that in time will become South America, Europe and Australia Backpacker Magazine. You can check out the beginnings of South America Backpacker Magazine here!

Saying goodbye to the office, a place that will always remind us of ‘home’ in Chaing Mai. 

We decided to take our idea to the next level. We want to take South East Asia Backpacker Magazine, (your magazine!) and share it with the world. There is still no other travel magazine on earth that is written and put together by backpackers – a travel diary for everyone – this magazine is truly unique. Are our dreams too ambitious? Too challenging? Will we succeed? Who knows? But all we know is this: “The greatest mistake you can make in life is to be continually fearing you will make one.” (Elbert Hubbard) See you on the other side!

(By Nikki Scott)

We’re looking for adventurous new people to join our growing global team! Interested? Take a look at our brand new ambassador page for more information about how to get involved and don’t hesitate to fill out our contact form!