When I ask people what drives their success, I usually get answers like “My family”, or “Ambition”, or “I want to be a better person”. Well, while these are all great answers, my case is a bit different. In my case, it’s not what drives my success, it’s who! If you ask most people that know me dearly, they would answer immediately and confidently, “Kenin”, and they would all be dead wrong. Now you have to understand, I love and cherish my husband dearly, and I fully intend to drag him all over the world with me, but he is not what drives me. Envy! This is what drives me to all ends of the Earth. My not-so-little green monster that seems to hover over me at all times disguised as various friends taunting me at every turn. He drives my success. I look at all of my traveling friends and family and (while happy for them) think to myself, “Man, that should be me!”

Since Kenin and I started our blog, I have made so many friends all over the world. Unfortunately, I have them on all of my social media. I wake up every morning and my green friend is there to greet me. Envy, envy, envy… it consumes me. It ceases to matter what amazingly beautiful part of the world I woke up in. I want to get in a car, plane, train, and go to where my little green monster will lead me. Who can be truly content with friends like these?

This is my friend Jennifer Dombrowski. She is someone at the top of my love to hate list :) Her adventures fuel my monster. She runs the site Jdombstravels She recently spent time playing in Italy and is now counting the seconds before her African safari. I am begrudgingly counting with her and imaging myself trekking through Tanzania with her

Speaking of safaris, this is Melissa Shearer. She is the adorable face behind The Mellyboo Project. She has spent more time in Africa than I care to think about. While I am absolutely a dog person, I would be willing to let her little friends try to convince me otherwise. Who wouldn’t want to do this!?!

Now there is the case of wanting things that you can never have. My friend Raymond Walsh takes the cake with this one. He is Man On The Lam. Last year he drove around the country celebrating Movember and raising money for cancer awareness. If I could grow testicles to have his life, I would (oh and also to raise awareness for cancer, I’m not all bad :) )!

Every once in a while, I come across someone that is so sweet and bubbly that I feel a tinge of guilt for envying. Nellie Huang is that person for me. She is possibly the smiliest person I know. I have a hard time passing her photos in my feed and not smiling back at her. She is the heart and soul of Wild Junket. Oh, and she’s also a total badass!

Tim Anderson is my favorite expat. He is living the expat dream. Went to Mexico, found a girl, fell in love, never came back. He is now running a very successful consulting business with his beautiful bride Christina. They also run Marginal Boundaries, an inspiring site about traveling the world and immersing yourself in unfamiliar cultures. One day I will be able to join them in there warm paradise with crystal blue oceans and unlimited tequila. For now though, I sit here with my little green monster and continue to be envious.

Last but certainly not least on my list is my very good friend Derek Freal of The Holidaze. He recently told me that he has a green monster of his own. He is envious of us! :D This thrilled me to no end because, honestly, I am completely envious of his life as well. He has been on an Indonesian game show and is currently trekking all through South East Asia. I can never keep tabs on where he actual is at any given moment. We will meet up again one day soon though and run amok somewhere fun.

These are just a handful of the people that I can thank for giving me that extra kick in the pants to get out there and live my life. You guys make me green with envy and I love you for it! You inspire me to heft myself and Kenin out of whatever city we are in and Keep Moving Forward! :)

If you enjoyed this post, you may also want to check out these other fun reads:

Travel – Searching the Globe to Find Yourself

#FriFotos – It’s Friday I’m in #love

The Constant Rambler – Behind The Scenes :) #rambleon

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