VERY FEW PEOPLE CAN MAKE THE LEAP INTO FULL-TIME VEHICLE LIVING without experiencing some degree of anxiety. Most of us have never done anything like it before. There’s so much that’s unknown and unpredictable. There’s so much uncertainty.

Humans tend to avoid uncertainty. Better the devil you know. Look before you leap. Don’t stick your neck out. Fools rush in. Safety first.

Uncertainty feels like failure. That’s our amygdala talking. Our lizard brain. Our fight-or-flight brain. Our better-safe-than-sorry brain. But we are not lizards. That tiny reptilian brain is surrounded by a large one that’s capable of much more, including changing itself to see things differently and react differently. It’s a brain that can find answers and create solutions.

Our lizard brain builds walls to keep us safe from our fears. But those walls can become prisons, keeping us from the goals, the growth, the happiness that await beyond the fears.

YOU CAN’T FIX THE STATUS QUO WITH MORE STATUS QUO

We might think, “Live in a vehicle? Holy crap! Am I crazy? What if life gets worse instead of better?”

But maybe we should think, “Stay in my current situation? Holy crap! Am I crazy? What if life gets worse instead of better?”

What’s the best that can happen if you don’t make a change?

Improvement requires change. What’s more, in a constantly changing world, sometimes just maintaining the status quo requires us to change. We can fight change and become its victims, or we can take action and direct that change in ways that benefit us. We can make change an ally.

THE VOICES OF FEAR

We are surrounded by fearful stories—from our families and friends, from the media, and from ourselves. The stories make us anxious about what might happen rather than what is actually happening. Dutch life coach, Marnix Pauwels said, “I hit the bottom of my well of fear and there was nothing there. I wasn’t actually scared of life; I was scared of the thoughts I had about life.”

TAKING ACTION REDUCES FEAR

Fear can be vague. We fear… something. Something not good. Failure? Ridicule? Harm? Loss? Loneliness? Things simply being different?…

If we can pinpoint our fears, if we can name them, then we can focus our energy. We can take targeted measures rather than flailing aimlessly. Success begins with taking the first small step. Then another small step. And another. Those successes show us we can manage the situation. Those successes show us we are stronger and more resilient than our fears.

There will be setbacks, but setbacks are temporary, not the final destination. Our previous successes teach us we can deal with challenges.

Elenor Roosevelt said, “You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing which you think you cannot do.”

SHARE THE LOAD

Fears gain power when we keep them to ourselves, when we don’t share them. But sharing is often a fear in itself. What if we’re mocked and rejected? That’s why CRVL built a community of and for vehicle dwellers. We’ve faced the same fears, had to solve the same problems. We are empathetic and want others to succeed.

BELIEVE IN YOURSELF, NOT THE FEARS

“What if something goes very wrong? Will I be able to handle it?”

That’s probably the greatest fear. And most likely, yes, you will be able to handle it. You are probably more able and resourceful than you realize. It’s even more likely you’ll handle it if you reach out to the nomad tribe.

Something could go wrong. But things could also go wonderfully right.

Change is a risk, but doing nothing is a bigger risk. Our lizard brain will always choose not struggling rather than struggling. But struggling does not equal failure. It’s just the process.