We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Brooke Mattingly a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Brooke, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.

I was 18 years old, a freshmen at University of Miami, my dream school. Feeling unfulfilled in the loads of work and feeling as if I was missing out on life, I took a risk and left my university to pursue my dreams of traveling and becoming a travel blogger. I moved back home to Richmond, VA and got a nanny job to make some money to use to travel. The first trip I took was a solo trip. This was a risk in itself. I flew across the country to Seattle to do a work exchange through an organization called Workaway. I worked for a few hours each day in exchange for free accommodation and free meals. I stayed with a host who had housemates of all different backgrounds and ages. I was the youngest in the house being just freshly 19 years old. After work, I explored Seattle on my own, eventually making friends with locals and exploring with them. It was so scary being across the country from my family and exploring a big city by myself at first. But it taught me how capable I am and it brought out sides of me I didn’t know I existed. Flying alone can be scary as it is, but being a solo female traveler is even scarier. I was able to step out of my comfort zone and test my mental strength.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

When I was freshly 16 years old I was hospitalized for a rare bug-born illness, which to this day they have not figured out what it was. After 10 gruesome days on doxycycline, the illness was gone, but a bigger one was caused. I had a 104 fever and could barely hold myself up. A doctor at Chippenham Hospital (VA) preformed a lumbar tap on me, but went too far and created a hole in my dura, causing a Cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) leak. This meant my brain did not have any fluid to float on since it was being leaked into my back. I felt like my brain was being pulled down by an anchor when I stood up. I could not stand up without being in immense amounts of pain and throwing up. This whole ordeal lasted two months, with four different stays in 2 different hospitals. The doctors couldn’t figure out what was wrong for a long time, until after my 5th MRI (usually lasting an hour) they concluded it was a leak. I got a blood patch and had to lay completely flat, no turning to the side for 3 days. Well that blood patch did not work. I had another blood patch while sedated, didn’t work. A third one, didn’t work. Each blood patch was around 1.5 weeks apart. Every time I had one I had to lay flat on my back, absolutely no moving, for a week. I felt stuck and paralyzed. I could barely eat, couldn’t shower, couldn’t get up, couldn’t roll over or go to the bathroom. I was in the ICU many times because of symptoms of the leak and because doctors were stumped. At one point my vitals started going crazy and they rolled in a ventilator just in case. The head doctor got on the phone with my dad who was six hours away (it was 9pm) and told him to get to the hospital now. Im not sure what happened after. At one point during my stay I was given fentanyl because of the pain. Another time I got morphine but quickly found out I was allergic. I also had an allergic reaction to another drug at another point in time. I remember twice telling my parents goodbye because I felt like I was passing away- one point the doctor was sitting on my bed holding my hand and my mom the other. At this point I have had IVS in almost every place you could put one. For the fourth blood patch, I was fully sedated with 15 doctors in the room because I was the first ever person to have a radiological directed blood patch at MCV VCU. This didn’t work. The chief neurosurgeon and chief neurologist studied my MRiS for two hours to conclude I had two holes in my dura from the tap, not one. For the fifth one, I was sedated for 3 days in trendelenburg position with a feeding tube. After the 3 days, I was woken up and put flat on my back. I was transferred from the ICU to the regular unit, but they forgot to transfer the medicine that would stop me from having withdrawals from the sedation medicine, so I was awake all night going delirious. I was seeing scary people and hearing creepy things. I found myself shaking wrapped up in a blanket sitting in a bathtub. Although, the 5th blood patch worked, After 15 MRIS, 6 CT scans, and 5 blood patches, I was done. However, I developed chemical meningitis in my brain from lacking fluid for so long. My brain was swollen, i had lost 15 pounds of muscle, I had already missed a month of school at my new school (transfer student), I had stomach issues for months preventing me from eating, and had constant headaches to the point where I had to get shots in the back of my head. I was on bed rest for three weeks. I could not bend over, I had to use a claw grabber, I had to use a shower chair, couldn’t walk up the stairs, lift anything heavy, I couldn’t even hold my own backpack when I was able to go back to school. It was the worst two months of my life. Every day was filled with excruciating pain feeling like it was never going to end. You may be wondering how this story is relevant. I spent every day in that hospital wishing I had never complained about the small stuff before. Wishing I could just walk. Promising myself I was going live everyday to the fullest when I was better and live with not regrets, being utterly grateful to live, to walk, and to eat.

I was not the same person as I was when I first got sick. After, I vowed to always chase my dreams. My problems after this ordeal always felt small because I was able to put them in perspective. I had always wanted to travel, but I was in high school then. When I had the opportunity to leave my university to travel, I knew I had to do it. I knew 16 year old me would want me to chase my dreams and be happy. I live now for the 16 year old girl who was stuck in a hospital bed for months. I live now to keep that promise that I would always chase my dreams. My mindset completely shifted in that hospital, feeling as if I emotionally and mentally matured ages. Not only am I now a travel blogger, but I also encourage and teach mindset growth. I am constantly posting on social media ways to grow your mindset and change your life. A strong mindset is one of the most important things in having a happy, successful life. Without a strong mindset, I wouldn’t of been able to get through that situation. Whenever I am feeling down or having doubts, I know 16 year old me would want me to keep pushing.

I travel to be able to explore different sides of myself, learn new cultures, expand my knowledge, and meet new people from different places. I believe you learn way more outside of the classroom than in. I created my travel blog and post content on social media to help other people travel and show them you can do it cheaply, and that it is not as expensive as it seems. I want to help people, whether that is with my story, or with helping them travel so they can find themselves too.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

There are many rewarding parts of being a travel blogger/content creator. One is being able to help other people travel and being able to show people places they might not of known. I love sharing mindset growth and motivation tips, encouraging people to expand and strengthen their mindset. It is something I had to learn on my own, not something that is taught in schools, and it makes for a happy life. I want people to know they are not alone and that they have the power to create and change their reality through their thoughts and mindset. I love it when people tell me they went somewhere because of my recommendation, took a risk that turned out great, or that they had success in something because of me. It makes me feel like what I am doing is actually useful and helpful.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

I had to unlearn the notion that ‘you need a college degree to be successful.’ The standard American way of living, the standard path everyone takes and everyone pressures you to take: go to college, work a 9-5, retire when you are 65 and have about 10-15 years left if you are lucky. I had always been told you need a college degree to be successful, but thats not true. I know so many people without degrees who are very successful. Successful in my mind is not money, degrees, or even a job. Successful is living a life I am happy with and doing what I want to do. I know travel bloggers without degrees who making livable wages. I have felt doubtful and guilty before for not following the traditional path. But maybe the traditional path isn’t the right one, at least not for me. Study your childhood away and work your adulthood away? Not for me. I fully realized the traditional way of life was not for me when I left university after just one semester freshmen year. I started living for myself and my desires, not anybody else’s.    

Contact Info:

• Website: www.brookemattingly.com
• Instagram: bybrookemattingly