For the longest time I’ve prayed that God would give me the opportunity to travel and explore His creation full-time. To forsake a home with one address and faithfully step into the unpredictable life of travel, that requires one to dream big, draw on essential travel lessons and fully lean on the Lord.
Starting in February of 2025, the Lord has made that possible for me and my husband. This dream and prayer finally gets to bloom.
Spring has always been my favorite season. Maybe it’s because my birthday falls in those months, but more likely – it is because the ground begins to thaw and new life begins to spring forth. The Lord takes what was covered in a blanket of rest – and awakens it to embrace its purpose.
The same can be said about our travels. In the winter there are a few of you, who find the energy, desire, and provision to brave the cold winter snow for some new adventures. But for many of us – winter forces us to pause our travel ambitions and patiently await what God has promised us in the spring.
The last 15 years of patiently awaiting this dream, have been my winter. During which, the Lord has taught me some important lessons, that I’d like to share with you.
Plant the Seed in Prayer
Travel is expensive, time-consuming, and incredibly hyped in our secular world. If we follow the world’s influence, the sole purpose of travel revolves around ourselves. Who has the best photos on Instagram? Who has the best stories and traveled the furthest? Who has gained the biggest following?
But in Genesis 1:28, God calls us to “go” care for the earth. I don’t know about you, but I find it’s incredibly hard to take care of something you’ve never seen. So, if we want to leave our living rooms and respond to God’s call, we need to prayerfully plant a seed of obedience and a request for understanding.
We need to ask the Lord to help us a make a way to “go” and to respond to His call. We pray that prayer knowing full well, that God’s response could be “Yes,” “No,” or “Wait.”
Nurture it with Thanksgiving
Have you ever planted a “hardy bulb”? It’s a type of flower that you plant in the fall, it sits unnoticed under snow all winter, and then it emerges from the ground in the spring.
When we first plant our prayer for travel, it can feel a lot like planting a “hardy bulb.” We are putting a request before the Lord, not knowing if we will ever get to see it bloom. Thus we enter into a season of winter waiting, which can drive us a little crazy.
The temptation becomes to take things into our own hands and put things into action before the Lord makes ready the way.
So in these waiting periods, I find it incredibly helpful to give thanks.
Isaiah 12:4-5 says “…Give thanks to the LORD, call on His name. Make known His deeds among the peoples; make them remember that His name is exalted…”
As humans, we can be quick to forget the Lord’s faithfulness in our waiting. So if you find yourself waiting to travel, here are some things you can thank the Lord for: That He has given you a travel ambition, for times He has provided for you, for His love and faithfulness, for the lessons Jesus taught us by going into the wilderness to reconnect with God, for friends and family, and for adventures you’ve had in the past.
Prune with Patience
When things begin to sprout in the garden, my first reaction is always a lot of rejoicing, until I remember the amount of weeding and pruning that comes with it. That’s not to say – that those monotonous tasks are not important.
If you don’t remove weeds from a garden, it can choke out the plants you actually want to blossom.
And by pruning the plants you do want to grow, you help it grow a stronger structure, increase the yield, and extending it’s life.
It reminds me of John 15:1-2 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. Every branch in me that does not produce fruit he removes, and He prunes every branch that produces fruit so that it will produce more fruit.”
It can be incredibly hard to prune our travel ambitions and dreams. But God wants to reshape them to reflect His design. He wants us to understand where our wanderlust turns inward, and to instead align our desires with His. [read more about The Nature Of God.]
The idea of surrendering pieces of our travel dream can sound like a burden and a loss. But when surrendered into the Lord, it becomes something greater. It transforms and flourishes in ways we were unable to even begin to imagine.
Walk in God’s Garden
When the day comes that the Lord calls you on your next adventure, when the seed has finally bloomed, Satan is going to throw lies at you.
He is going to tell you – that it is too good to be true. That it won’t meet your expectations or your long awaited dreams.
And the temptation is then to guard your heart from hope, but if we look back to the Garden of Eden – nothing could be further from the truth.
God has been patiently preparing the way for you to get to experience this travel adventure and He has brought it to fruition at the perfect time. The people you will meet, the memories you will make, the things that will not go as planned – will all be a testimony of God’s faithfulness and His love.
So, do not hide from the Lord, but rather step boldly, fully trusting your Maker to have prepared the way for you.
As my husband and I begin our year long trip – we have definitely moved through all four of these essential travel lessons. Right now, it is tempting to fall into the doubts that come with the unknown – Satan’s lies. But I’m incredibly thankful that the Lord is making a way for us to adventure with Him in a new season and in a new way.
Follow along with our adventure. As you do, regularly pray for us. Want to dream big too and learn about Christ-centered travel opportunities? Follow us on social media @ChristianTravelersnNet or visit www.ChristianTravelers.net.
ADVENTure Travel
PUBLISHER’S NOTE: Not all “adventure travel” is made of over-the-top thrills, rarely seen exotic destinations or intense agendas. But, Sarah’s and her husband’s story of having faith to travel full time definitely qualifies. There are risks, surprises, challenges and a whole lot more that put their 2025 travels well into the category of adventure. They’ve asked for your ongoing prayers and we know that’s one of the best ways to support their travels. Check out more articles in our ADVENTure Travel department.
