Big changes have always held a certain allure for me.

I remember distinctly the moments when friends have told me about big changes they’d decided to make in their lives: quitting a job, moving across the country, selling their house, getting divorced…

Yes, there can be fear and anxiety and even sadness around some of these choices, but to me, change is exciting. Thrilling. Sexy.

Change is the mark of someone taking action, of someone who’s decided to take charge of his or her life.

And hearing about others’ big changes inspires me to make my own.

When I was finishing up college, a friend told me she was going to move to Austin for the summer, for a change of pace and to save some money. I said, “What a great idea! I want to go somewhere for the summer!” She suggested I go to Sacramento, where my boyfriend lived.

At first I said I couldn’t possibly, but the more I thought about it, the better it sounded. A month or two later, I hopped a plane to California (and ended up living there for the next seven and a half years).

In the hopes of inspiring your big change, here are a few more of mine:

• At the ripe old age of 24, I quit my job to take an unpaid internship at a publishing company, convinced it would get me closer to my dream job as an editor (it did).
• Five years later, I quit my job to travel solo around the world (Nomadtopia probably wouldn’t exist if I hadn’t).
• In 2007, I moved to Argentina alone (and met my soul mate there).

Any and all change is worthwhile. Sometimes a change that feels rather small at the time ends up being the one that impacts everything.

Change that’s thrust upon you, instead of being created by you, can sometimes be harder to accept, but in the end, things often work out better than you expected, like when I lost my job about six months after moving to Sacramento (giving me the freedom to move to San Francisco, where my boyfriend had been offered a job, and where I eventually got a better one).

Don’t be afraid of change. Change is sexy! Embrace it. Get turned on by it.