I am going to tap back into my pre-traveling mind and sit down with
anyone longing for distant places, who hasn't yet taken that first
empowering step out of their country. You are one of many in this
category-a very small percentage of Americans, for example, have ever
traveled to Europe. Why is this, when so many plan to wander through the
wine vineyards of Italy, climb the Eiffel Tower or stroll about the
land of their ancestors in Ireland, England, Germany and so on? We
always say, "Someday, I'll go there." Unfortunately, this isn't a thing
you should put off for long, lest it never come to fruition. Don't
listen to the words that hold you back in your own mind...
1. "When my bills are in order, I'll go."
Here's
a horrifying thought-what if your bills are never in order? Right now,
you could be a college student, making it by on part time jobs and loans
from Mom and Dad. You could be a fresh graduate, just entering the
first years of a real career. Maybe you're a new parent, and we all know
babies aren't cheap. Have teenagers who want the newest gadget or
clothes?-not a good time to blow money on a trip! Kids going into
college?-forget about it. My point is, you'll always have big events
along the road of your life, and if you don't force a detour now and
then, you'll never stop to see what else is out there.
2. "It might be dangerous there."
Yes,
this is a favorite for your friends and family to whisper or shout to
you. Central America has a vicious drug cartel, the sex slave trade will
get you in Europe, and you'll most certainly catch a bug in Asia. It
makes me wonder what the warnings are for "foreigners" to come to the
States! I'm going to be very honest with you right now, if fear for your
safety is the cause for a sedentary life-I've been to both borders of
Costa Rica and between, I've explored Europe from Norway to the South of
France, and the West and East coasts of Australia (the land of the
world's deadliest animals). My brother has studied in India and Thailand
and can't wait to get back. We have never felt as in danger outside of
the US than in our own city of Baltimore. Sure, a disease-carrying bug
might bite me here in Costa Rica, but IF that were to happen, there's
very affordable health care in town, and the doctors here assure me I
would not lose a leg. I could have been robbed in Nicaragua, but they
would have left me unharmed and just one iPhone less.
3. "I will go when the kids are older."
My
kids are three and one. We've taken our first to Norway for a summer,
and the both of them to Costa Rica for most of 2013. Let me think of
what we'd be doing in Maryland right now, had we decided to listen to
this travel-squasher... I'd be bundling my kids up to walk around in
their own house, and potentially to the nearby playground (if I'm
feeling adventurous), maybe go to the grocery store for some flare, wait
for my husband to finish up his work around eight o'clock, cook and
clean up dinner and sit down to absorb some crap on the TV. Lovely.
Would this really be better, safer, healthier for my kids? They might
prefer digging on the beach any sunny month of the year, learning about
sea turtles, or discovering monkeys and parrots when Mommy points them
out in the trees. They might like hearing a new language spoken to them
every day by real people than on computer programs. I have a hunch your
kids will benefit from traveling, so listen to your wild side and give
them a childhood their peers will drool over in the future.
4. "I'll travel when I retire."
Will
you, though? With the precarious state of Social Security and rising
dependence on prescription drugs, will you be financially comfortable,
fit and willing to travel later in life? If you do have a cozy nest egg
built up by then, you might have adorable grandchildren, and what's
harder to leave than that? You also might be too tired to hike Machu
Picchu, or swim with dolphins-forget about surfing. Do you really want
to spend your golden years exploring, when all you might want to do is
rest? I suppose there's no way to know for sure. But what you can know
for sure is how you're feeling now. Don't wait until your desire, hope
or thrill for adventure dissipates. Live the life of your dreams while
you still have the energy to keep up with it. When your last years
arrive, do you think you'll regret traveling when you were younger? Or,
will you be happy you waited?
Listen to your gut, and book that
first glorious ticket out of the mundane. If money is a question, forgo
that extra junk food, pack of cigarettes, night of drinking and
debauchery (or if you are a particularly upstanding person, which I'm
sure you are, you could resist any new unnecessary items) and tuck the
savings into a traveling fund-only touchable for plane tickets,
passports, or bungalow bookings. Make it happen for yourself, because
you deserve to see the place of your daydreams. If you can do it only
once, you'll break from rut of these thoughts that keep you stuck in
somedays, which might end up to become nevers.
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