Just found this very interesting article in the SMH...
Seemed appropriate to this thread. It is very much the way I look at travel...
http://blogs.smh.com.au/travel/archives/2010/04/the_secret_of_travel.html
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It's not rocket surgery, as they say. Or brain science. In fact, it's something you can rip straight off a footwear brand commercial.
Just do it.
That, right there - just three simple words - is the secret to a lifetime of happy travels.
As someone who spends a fair portion of their life travelling, I get told I'm "lucky" a lot. But it's not true.
Granted, I have the dumb luck of having been born into a middle class family in a safe, stable country with a decent education system. But so do most of the people who are envious of my position.
When it comes to travel, it's not a case of luck, but priorities. You just have to make it happen.
After all, there are so many reasons you can give yourself to ditch your holiday plans and just stay at home.
You've got bills to worry about. That Commodore won't pay itself off, interest rates are going up (I assume), you need to get working on a nest egg.
You've got a career to consider. You can't just up and leave and expect it to still be there. What if Barry from level six gets that promotion while you're swanning around Turkey?
Something might happen to your family while you're away. Someone might get sick, someone might get married, someone might get born. Do you really want to miss all that?
Nah. So you put it off, swear you'll do it next year, or maybe the year after that, and get back to living your life, content with the notion that, "I'll get round to it sooner or later". Except, you won't. The longer you leave it, the older you get, the harder it'll be to drop everything and leave.
I understand the procrastination, in a way, because it's sometimes almost impossible to justify the amount of money you'll have to shell out to go on that big trip - whether it's a year-long round-the-world sabbatical, or just a fortnight in Bali.
Travel's expensive, no doubt about it. And completely intangible. Your Commodore might be depreciating in value, but at least it's worth something. Get back from an overseas holiday and what do have left? A massive credit card bill and the nagging feeling that you'd rather be somewhere else right now.
But if you're trying to justify going travelling, all you have to do is apply the "grandkids rule". As in: what would you tell your grandkids about?
Would you tell them about the promotion you once got? Or the car you once bought? Or the fancy suit you owned? Or the time you almost got attacked by a hippo in Zimbabwe and had to paddle to safety with an Esky lid?
In my experience, it takes a lot of sacrifices to travel, a lot of putting up with things you won't have, but it's absolutely worth it in the end.
No house or car or promotion or outdoor setting or silk tie or new pair of shoes will ever compare to the people you'll meet, the food you'll taste, the crazy things you'll see, the knowledge you'll gain and the experiences you'll have if you pour your money into a life of travel.
So for those tossing up whether or not to take the plunge and book that big trip, I'd go back to those three magic words: just do it.
You'll never regret it.
Disney also offered me the LAX - MCO rtn flight for only $200. This is such a difference from our 2006 trip where the airfare to LAX was $1800!
Especially Canberra.
) will be lovely, but not if it means no more holidays.
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