@televisionofnomads: I was TERRIFIED, shivering, teeth chattering, up all night the night we arrived in Baghdad.  I’ve never felt that kind of primal, physical fear about anything else in my life.  I now know that it was all in my head, but the fear was powerful nonetheless. I consider myself an open-minded, critical thinking person. I run in travel creator circles in which a trip to Iraq isn’t unheard of. I’ve traveled to Arabic countries before as well, so I was surprised and ashamed at what I was feeling, and really just tried to dismiss it initially. But decades of programming since America’s abysmal War on *ERRORISM* I’d unwillingly ingested bubbled to the surface, exacerbated by a chaotic arrival in Iraq. I lay awake all night filled with fear and regret, planning to leave as soon as possible, no matter the cost. And we were on a strict budget, so this was rather dramatic and unusual for me. I finally fell asleep at the 4am call to prayer, one of the most wonderfully soothing sounds to us. When we woke up, I decided I wasn’t going to let fear rule me without even giving Iraq a chance.  And mashallah we stuck it out because Iraq surpassed our WILDEST expectations. The first time walking out onto the streets in Iraq after that first night of irrational terror, was EMPOWERING.  I had confronted my fear and realized that the big “scary” unknown wasn’t so scary after all. And what’s more—the Iraqis we met turned out to be amazing human beings.  Our entire trip, constantly met with warmth & kindness—Iraqis refusing to take our money, giving us gifts, greeting us with huge smiles everywhere, even after they learned we were American—was quite literally life-changing.  And it really was more than a physical journey, with all the emotional purging, processing, understanding and healing I went through by confronting this fear I didn’t even realize I had.  Iraq brought me back to a part of myself buried beneath the constant fear bombardment: a curious, exploratory, adventurous self.  & it all happened because I consciously chose to not let fear rule my life.  I hope you can remember, when the time’s right, to do the same yourself ❤️ #iraq #iraq🇮🇶#iraqtravel #iraqtravelers #visitingiraq #karbala #karbalairaq #baghdad #sumeria #iraqi #iraqitiktok #iraqtiktok #iraqtiktokers #traveliraq #babylon #karbalatravel #karbalatiktoker #iraqicheck #americaniniraq

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Tuesday 14 May 2024 20:19:56 GMT