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Ezra goes global | Article

Broaden your horizons one step at a time

Ezra Magazine will be packing its bags and moving overseas to Europe in 2019. As long time readers will know, Ezra has been always about understanding the ‘why’. Why people create, write, photograph people, record music and put themselves out there. For Ezra Magazine, travelling to Europe in 2019 and entering the “big unknown” is a humbling yet scary opportunity. As a journalist and now teacher, I never envisioned moving to Europe at any point in my life. Why would I need to? I’m comfortable, I have a somewhat stable job, career and family. I have come to understand it’s the stability; the comfort and the routine that I have fallen out of love with. 

When you set your goals for next year; think big, go broad and aim high.

Grieving the death of both my grandparents within a short period of time – one of whom was my biggest supporter of Ezra Magazine – sent me into a lulled state of depression. Though I didn’t know it at the time, I too often kept to myself and ignored human connection without deliberately meaning to. Good friendships dwindled to ‘hello’s’ in the shops and unfulfilled promises of a catchup after work. 

The hardest part about that point in my life was breaking out of the cycle and habits that depressions lets you so easily fall into. My anxiety didn’t help either. The only thing that managed to help was finishing my Masters Degree and securing a job at one of the private schools. The job gave me a sense of purpose, pushed me way out of my comfort zone and I started to build friendships and connections with people. 

Teaching has allowed me to develop a connection with people and push myself out of my comfort zone.

The reason I’m travelling is to connect with people. To hear their stories and develop a wider understanding of our world all seven billion of us call home. I need to understand the history, the previous chapters that have made up our collective history as a globalised world. As a teacher I have the responsibility to educate, to (although I hate the word) inspire and create conversations that will enable our future generations to be the change they want to see in the world.

As soon as we decided that we’re moving the questions didn’t rain, they poured. “Why on earth would you move overseas when you live here? What are you going to do for work? How are you going to get around? How long as you going on holiday for? What are you going to do when you get back? Do you have to quite your jobs? What about your family? What about your home? Your friends? Why don’t you have kids first?”

In order to move overseas with a suitcase and nothing else, there are a few things you need to overcome. Besides the red tape, paperwork and foreign bureaucracy (a post for another time), setting a savings goal and working towards that goal can seem incredibly daunting. To be perfectly honest, I’ve dropped down my “lifestyle and entertainment costs” to almost nothing. It’s been Netflix, movies at home and people around for dinner most weekends. In fact, I’ve even taken up fishing.  

When you set your goals for next year; think big, go broad and aim high. Don’t let fear and rejection stand in your way. You will learn, you will grow and you will succeed. If not the first time, second time or even third time – try and try again.

Alongside Ezra I’m also a wedding and portrait photographer and educator. I love what I do. I love trying new things and developing skills in different areas. I’m not one to decline an opportunity when it comes my way and I also know that success is 99% hard work and 1% of luck (if that even exists). Ezra Magazine was never intended to be anything more than a blog, yet I’m so proud and happy of how far it’s come, that it’s still around and that people are reading interviews and articles everyday.