Life
is all about choices. Where to go to
college, where to live, what color to dye your hair, what to do for a living, how
to spend your money, etc. One thing I’ve
noticed as an adult is that it’s rare to have people in your life to who
approve of how you do all those things.
Especially when it comes to how you spend your money.
Being
fortunate to have disposable income, I typically spend it on three things:
purses, shoes and airplane tickets.
Travel being the vice that takes up the largest chunk of my disposable
income. And is by far the one people
least approve of.
I
was fortunate enough to have my interest in travel sparked at young age. We took a family vacation every year. They weren’t fancy, but we always went some
place and saw something new. Then, when
I was 16 I won an all-expense paid trip to visit the United Nations in NYC,
which included a two weeks touring along the east coast. Looking back I wish I’d been more interested
in the experience and the historical places I got to see and a little less interested
in the cute boys with southern drawls. People
talk about turning points in life, when they made a decision that helped define
the rest of their life. That trip is a
huge defining moment in my life. It
helped shape who I became and the fact that I wanted to see things up close and
personal. It is one thing to know the
ancient city of Troy existed. It’s
entirely different to see the 4,500 year old bricks with your own eyes.
I’ve
also been lucky enough to have a few good friends who continue to pique my
interest in traveling and to push me to continue exploring. Sadly, these are the few friends I feel
totally comfortable discussing travel with.
More often than not the response I get to telling someone I’m going out
of the country is, “Well. That must be
nice,” in a lovely condescending, snotty tone.
Rather than continue defending myself, I chose to stop talking about
travel unless I was asked. I make travel
a priority. I make a good living, save
for retirement, have no kids and am getting a freaking steal on my rent. I don’t apologize for spending my money on
something that is important to me and not you.
When
I was in Turkey last year, a couple around my age asked if I ever got hassled
for traveling. That people didn’t agree
with that was how I should spend my time and money? I was relieved to hear that it wasn’t just me
who felt this way. Luckily I’ve met some
amazing travelers over the past few years who can be a sort of support
group. Quite honestly I feel under
traveled around most of them!
While
I think about all this infrequently, I was reminded of it today when someone I
met on a trip posted on FB that she was thinking about a trip to Thailand and
who wanted to go? Immediately there were
responses flying, especially from those of us who met while in Turkey. It’s pretty great to have friends who are all
in at the mention of a cool trip out of the country. That is a difficult sub-culture of friends to
find.
So
while I may not own a house or have a million dollars saved in the bank, I’ve
seen some pretty incredible things. I’ve
swam in three of the four oceans (although it might take an act of God to get
me swimming in the Arctic). This spring
I will have been on six of the seven continents. I’ve walked around the Coliseum and seen the
land that inspired The Iliad. I’ve
followed in the paddle strokes of Lewis and Clark. I’ve seen the aftermath of
an Atomic Bomb. Life is about choices. I
just choose to see as much as possible with my own eyes.
