Take a step out of your bubble

We, Gen-Zers, quickly get used to feeling secure even though the world and history have taught us not to. We experienced a global pandemic, inflation, and, among others, polarization in the world of politics which has shown us the world full of hate. Some of us experienced the realities of war which we thought was the word of the past. Even if it's not direct, we get a feeling of what it does to people and how it overturns our belief that we live in a peaceful time.

When people older than Gen-Z say 'Oh you're so lucky, you can travel anywhere you want, you have the freedom to see the world' they forget that sometimes life is also stressful and we experience things that are not so brightly colored. We have our reasons to feel anxious and worry about the future. This fear can influence our daily lives and the choices we make or decide not to make. So when someone asks 'You can go to Seattle in a month, do you want to?' you get scared because you've never flown that far and you're an anxious flyer, you get scared of traveling solo, you get scared of many other things. But then you think 'I am lucky, I can travel anywhere I want, I can see the world'. And you book the tickets.

Stepping out of our comfort zones can be challenging but in the end, it's, hopefully, worth it. Overturning stressful situations into chances can be a good way of dealing with them. Are you dreading flying for 10 hours because you have no control of the plane? Think about it as an opportunity to catch up on movies you've been wanting to watch or just close your eyes, turn on your favorite music, and enjoy hours without notifications (unless you buy WIFI on board which doesn't work anyway).

The first rule of stepping out of our comfort bubbles is to have an open mind. If you get the chance to meet some amazing people along the way then it's even easier. Talk, laugh together, and simply enjoy the adventure of leaving your bubbles. It might turn out that even though you come from very different backgrounds, say Lebanon, Palestine, Iraq, Brazil, or the USA, you will have something to talk about and laugh about. The joy of discovering other cultures and getting to know people halfway across the world from home is definitely worth the 10-hour flight and taking a step out of the comfort bubble.