Faith on Foot
How Travel Rewrote & Strengthened My Beliefs
Throughout my travels, I grew in many ways: inches, pounds, wisdom, experiences, friendships, and culture. However, the most surprising growth I noticed within myself was in my faith. Honestly, I didn’t expect to grow in this area of life like I did simply because I knew I likely wouldn’t meet many other Christians along my journey. Traveling in the budget backpacker way I did, I expected to meet lots of hippies, vagabonds, nomads, and spiritual experiential people, which I did. However, my faith actually grew stronger because of this.
When constantly meeting new people, naturally, you’re going to be asked a lot of questions about yourself. The travelers’ community is also expert at skipping superficial, surface-level talk and getting deep with conversation quickly. Hearing about others’ personal beliefs and lifestyles naturally made me think about my own. This opened my mind and forced me to look inward, asking, “What do I truly believe? And why?” I felt confident in myself and strong in my beliefs, and through sharing more of myself and my faith aloud, I realized more of the reasoning behind my faith … and how I simply could not live without it. I saw how different I was compared to many people I met, and multiple conversations reinforced my beliefs. Not to mention, on the several days I spent wandering a new country alone, it was just me and God, and I could debrief.
Each day held so much unknown regarding what I’d do, sights I’d see, whom I’d meet, navigation troubles I’d face, etc. As a foreigner in new countries, I didn’t know a whole lot. But I knew one thing — I had God, and He had me. I knew Him, and He knew me. Knowing this kept me sane and allowed me to see God in everything — from the nature around me to the people surrounding me. From the grandeur of the Swiss Alps to the fireside chats and glimmering eyes of new friends from around the world.
With my downtime at various volunteer stays, I read, read, and read some more. All these books were faith-based, and I learned more about how to live a life of worthiness and glory by being a completely committed follower of Jesus Christ, not just a fan. I’ve come to know no greater love, and what more could I ask for? I am full — completely known and completely loved.
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Each day, I felt beyond blessed to be doing such odd jobs in a country far from home, surrounded by warm, smart, creative people from different backgrounds and cultures. I knew I’d likely never be in that country again, I’d likely never do that work again, and I’d likely never be around those people again. So, I did everything I could to live in the moment and cherish the time I had been allotted.
I’d never been around a group of more different people in my life, not just in comparison to me but in comparison to one another. A variety of personalities, looks, worldly mindsets/outlooks, religious beliefs, and life goals. However, when you break humanity down, person by person, we’re all awfully alike. For the most part, all humans want the same things. We want happiness, love, laughter, freedom, peace, connection (to humans, animals, nature, or all of the above), and success (in whatever form it may come). We all like to laugh at a joke, watch a good movie, and get lost in the melody of a great song. While our versions of happiness, love, laughter, freedom, peace, connection and success will look different, we all dream and strive toward a life with these attributes. We were all created in the image of God and by God, and that’s gotta count for something.
How quickly I came to adapt to new environments, how warmly I came to call places ‘home’ I’d only spent a handful of nights in, and how genuinely I grew friendships over just a few days. Each day was a test of my character. When you’re constantly meeting new people, you have opportunities to showcase the person you truly strive to be. Everyone I met only knew me as a girl named Karina, and I had the chance to show them more. I could display my greatest qualities, share with them my favorite stories and reveal to them who this girl named Karina actually is and what she stands for. People around me learned more about me, of course, but I also learned a great deal about myself and who I truly want to be … how I want to treat people … why I want what I want in life … and, while I can’t control it, how I hope people view me.
I would remind myself, “ Don’t be afraid because God makes you brave. Be confident because God grants you security and fullness in Him. Be calm because God gives you peace beyond understanding.”
Because traveling is so impermanent — I’d meet wonderful people, spend three weeks straight with them, then likely never see them again — God granted me the confidence to be myself and who He created me to be right off the bat of my various journeys. Growing up extraordinarily shy, I wouldn’t have been able to learn much about anyone or have them learn about me in just three weeks because it took me so long to open up. So, the 23-year-old me knew that if I really wanted to make the most of my experiences and truly get to know people, I’d have to show my true colors from the get-go, for my time was short. God helped me grow close to people in just two short days, feel comfortable being myself around strangers and soon-to-be friends, and organically share His presence in my life much easier than before.
Shortly after Matthew McConaughey became famous, he took a 22-day backpacking trip to Peru. He said, “I need to test who I am, my character, on people who know me as a stranger.” McConaughey gets it, too.
As I grew in my own faith journey, I enjoyed learning about other religions by immersing myself in a Hare Krishna community for two weeks, meeting people of vast religious backgrounds and diving into deep conversations, visiting pristine European churches/basilicas and Asian temples/shrines, and opening my eyes and ears to all the cultural and religious knowledge that came my way. Through all this, I’ve seen how beautiful and unique the practice of religion is. Why is religion one of the main basis of war? Why do we argue and divide ourselves based on religion? Love is an action and a feeling created by God, and all religions preach love. However, religion is a system created by humans, not God. God just wants a relationship with us. This relationship is more important than any religion you fall into. Most religions believe in and worship something greater; praise and have a relationship with their God; realize that the decision to completely follow their God means the death and denial of themselves — their desires, ego and plans; acknowledge that “every good gift and every perfect gift is from above…” (James 1:17); and strive to have hope for the future and peace in the present. All this should be celebrated! As with most religious followers, I have built a relationship with my God and will continue to follow my God. No one can nor should try to strip people of the most sacred relationship they have and a life that has been sourced beyond this world.
