I have slept under the stars in the Sahara, surfed in Hawaii, biked in Amsterdam, hitchhiked all over Europe, eaten pasta in Italy, drank wine in France, and seen Machu Picchu. I have road-tripped around Mexico and eaten oysters fresh from a fisherman’s boat. I have fished salmon in Alaska, dove on a tiny island in Panama, and gone to Costa Rica with random people I met on the road. I met a professional poker player in Las Vegas, partied in Budapest and Prague, spent my 24th birthday in Berlin with some of my closest friends (which none of us can barely remember), camped on a freezing night in Portugal after living in the middle of nowhere in Spain, and picked up a hobby and career that changed my life in Morocco.

I have traveled to more than 30 countries, worked the most random jobs, and lived on boats, in hostels, tents, a van, and on friends’ couches for a while. And all of that effort paid off because I had a purpose, and I knew I was doing the right thing. I wanted to travel the world, but I couldn’t afford to do it luxuriously (and even if I could, I wouldn’t have). So I did it my own way, and I’m still amazed that everything worked out.

It all started as a “let’s see how long 600 euros can last”—I thought maybe a couple of months. But five years later, here I am in Hawaii, living a simple life in a place I could never have imagined visiting a few years ago. Needless to say, the 600 bucks did disappear, but I needed it to start. This is still a powerful reminder to me that you don’t need to see the whole path ahead—you just need to take that first step if you really want to see what’s out there.