Bianca Caruana is an Australian-Maltese blogger, podcast host and first-time author, specialising in stories that ignite inspiration surrounding compassion, spirituality and sustainability. The launch of her first book, Soul Truth, comes off the back of over eight years of storytelling and journalism on her blog, The Altruistic Traveller. Bianca is passionate about sharing voices and stories that shape our future for the better.
Eight years ago, at the age of twenty-eight, I was thirteen years into a career with one of Australia’s leading supermarkets. At only twenty-eight, I’d climbed the corporate ladder, worked my way to the top, and scored the job position that I’d been striving to reach for so many years.
For a while, I basked in the comfort and security I had strived to achieve. I had done well. But one day back in 2015, as I sat at my office desk and stared at the grey-coloured cubicle walls enclosed by expectations, deadlines and detachment, I had what would probably be one of the largest epiphanies of my life. I realised I had strived for something that I didn’t feel even the slightest passion for. I had strived to become a person that wasn’t truly me.
So, I traded that life in for a one-way ticket to Malaysia and life has never been the same. I stepped foot on that aeroplane for what was meant to be a one-year sabbatical; a time for the unfettered bird to spread her wings. Eight years later, I have travelled to and lived on three different continents, I am a published author and I know myself more than I ever have.
I like to say that often we must learn who we are not before we learn who we are. Perhaps that’s how it works with passion, too.
As I sat at that office desk, becoming more and more depleted as each day went on, I knew something was unaligned. I’d known for a while that this job wasn’t right for me. But, I was comfortable, I was in my comfort zone. However, the thing about comfort zones is that they can be a very dangerous place to be because they inhibit us from stepping into wholeness.
Amidst my comfort, I started making small decisions to connect me with my passion, which was writing and community work. I took short courses, volunteered my time and started an online blog.
These small changes steadily began to stip me away from the version of myself who sat unconvincingly in the office chair, day after day. Until one day, after an anxiety-ridden panich attack (the consequence of being over-worked) I listened to my body which was begging me to stop. I honoured myself and took a leap of faith.
I believe when we trust our intuition, life works for us. It takes a lot of courage to look within and ask “what do I truly want.” But we owe it to ourselves. We only get this one chance to be who we truly want to be in this world.
To trust your intuition. At our very core, we have so many answers to the path ahead. But we have been taught to second-guess ourselves, to listen to external influences above our own needs. Especially, as women, we can tend to ignore those deep, intuitive gifts we have and silence them. Every time I have had that gut feeling something wasn’t right for me, I have been right. Whether I had to learn the easy way (honouring my needs and decisions) or the hard way (experiencing a consequence as a result of people-pleasing or not honouring my truth). Both circumstances are lessons in their own way.
Around the time I started planning my sabbatical, I had shared with my partner my idea to expand my personal blog to focus on community development and the intersection of tourism and sustainability. One evening, while browsing the internet, I learned about a book by Australian philosopher, Peter Singer, titled The Life You Can Save: Acting Now to End World Poverty. The book spoke about effective altruism and how we, as individuals, can make intentional choices that increase our impact in this world. It spoke to our collective role in the mission to end poverty and how much was still to be done. One part of the book specifically resonated with me, “If you are paying for something to drink when safe drinking water comes out of the tap, you have money to spend on things you don’t really need. Around the world, a billion people struggle to live each day on less than you paid for that drink.” Singer’s words echoed in my soul and the term altruism, simply defined as the selfless concern for the well-being of others, went on to become the inspiration behind the title of my blog and business, The Altruistic Traveller.
At the time, travel writing was starting to become more popular. However, I didn’t want the blog to be just another travel blog. I saw an opportunity to educate others on how they could have a more positive impact on the people and places they visited.
Over the course of the last seven years, the blog grew from a personal writing platform, into a resource website, a podcast, and then became the inspiration behind my first book, ‘Soul Truth’ – a story about the journeys we take across borders and within.
These seven years of travel, both outwards into the world and inwards into the chambers of my own intrinsic ecosystem, have been some of the most transformational of my whole life. Had I not listened to my heart all those years ago, had I not given up my comfortable seat in the corporate stockade or walked down a path not paved for my feet to tread, I may have ended up somewhere else. It’s only when looking back that it all makes sense.
“If you think you can, or you think you can’t – you are right.” – Henry Ford.
Know your ‘Why?’ Listen to the inner voice and ask why you want to start this business. Does it come from deep passion, does it come from truth. Or does it come from a desire for money or to be better than someone else. There is a beautiful word in Japanese called ‘Ikigai’ – It means your ‘reason for being.’
Oftentimes, in the corporate world we are placed into a box and asked to be something we are not. This creates a great disconnect from our true selves because we can become lost and forget our true nature, or what is truly important to us.
When we tap into that inner world, we can learn about intuition and know what really guides us. The rest comes naturally when you make decisions that stem from the heart.
Connect with Bianca here:
https://www.biancacaruana.com/
https://www.instagram.com/bianca.caruana/
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/29909289.Bianca_Caruana