We've all heard the saying “Life is short.” And, sometimes, it is.
But life is also unpredictable.
Even though we all probably have dreams and goals and plans for our lives, there are certain things we have no control over. Our lives could be going along on right on track, only to be shattered by something we could never have seen coming.
A tornado that rips through a neighborhood. A flood that devastates farms. An earthquake that reduces a city to rubble. And these are just the unpredictable things nature can bring about. There are also accidents, health problems, financial woes…
Life is too fleeting and changeable to take for granted.
I have a tattoo around my wrist that reads: “All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us.” I try to recite this quote every once in a while, in order to remind myself to live in the here and now, and not in the future or the past. When it comes down to it, we can only live with what we're given, taking advantage of the opportunities that come our way.
This applies to travel, too.
I'm not a full-time traveler. I spend most days working to make a living just like you do. So when a chance arises for me to visit some far-off country or exotic locale, I jump on it.
Take, for example, my recent trip to New Zealand. I won a prize from the Blog4NZ campaign, and decided to plan an impromptu trip to NZ. I bought a plane ticket and was South Pacific-bound within a month of winning. Sure, I could have postponed it, saved up some more money and planned to go sometime later.
But, I thought, what if “sometime later” never came?
I know where I would like my life to be headed in the coming months and years. But there are no guarantees that things will go as planned. In fact, more likely than not, nothing will go as planned.
Last summer, when I was on an Alaskan cruise with my family, I made note of the prevalence of older couples on our cruise ship. Old men who could only walk with canes. Old women who didn’t even leave the ship when we pulled into port. It was almost comical, the number of electric wheelchairs positioned outside staterooms at night.
And, while I’m glad that older couples still travel, I couldn’t help feeling a bit sorry for some of them on this cruise. No doubt many had dreamed about and saved up for this trip for years. For many, it was probably meant to be a retirement gift to themselves. But were they even enjoying it?
How often do we hear others say, “Oh, I’ll travel when I retire,” “I’ll travel when the kids are grown,” “I’ll travel when the house is paid off”? I hear these excuses all the time. But you know what happens? Age. And stress. And, well, life. Life happens, and by the time you retire and your kids are grown and your house is paid off, you have bad knees and weak lungs and you simply can’t visit all those places you dreamed about in your youth.
How sad. I don’t want to end up like that, holding on to youthful travel dreams that will never be reality.
So I travel now, in whatever way and to whatever place I can. I scrimp and I save and I make it happen. I took the Blog4NZ opportunity placed before me and embraced it, despite the low balance in my savings account. I'm glad I did, and I was lucky enough to have a lot of my expenses covered on that trip.
But even on trips where everything has been paid for out of my own pocket, I grasp at every opportunity and unique adventure. I travel with reckless abandon — often to the detriment of my wallet.
Is this wise? Probably not if you’re a long-term traveler. But, for someone like me who tends to take shorter trips to distant places, I attack travel with a no-holds-barred attitude.
Bungy jumping? Helicopter rides? Expensive tours? If I think they are worth it, then I will not hesitate to shell out for experiences. I treat every trip I take as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Sure, I'd like to think I'll be back to Ireland or Italy or Australia someday. But what if I never make it back? I don't want to have any regrets in my life, and this includes travel regrets.
I know not everyone shares this travel philosophy, though. Many travelers stick to a strict budget so they can travel for as long as possible. Others simply don’t wait to pay for anything beyond the necessities.
When I was studying abroad in New Zealand, I traveled extensively all over the country with two friends. We booked everything from whale watching to zorbing to a private flight over the Southern Alps, and racked up some impressive credit card bills. I think we spent more weekends outside of Wellington than in it. Another international student that year almost looked down her nose at our pricey adventures, declaring that she had come to New Zealand to study, not empty her savings account on travel.
My question to her was, why would you come literally halfway around the world to hoard your money and keep your nose pressed into a book every weekend? Would you go to China and not visit the Great Wall because it costs money? Would you go to Italy and skip visiting the Vatican because it requires an admission ticket?
There are so many worthwhile experiences to be had in the world — and yes, many of them require money. But it’s my travel philosophy that you shouldn’t deny yourself any of these experiences just because they come with a pricetag.
If you are privileged enough to be able to afford to travel, then you should attack it with curiosity and vigor and a sense of adventure. And to hell with the bank account.
So travel now. Make memories. And enjoy your life.
At the end of the day, I'd rather die with a million memories than a million dollars. Money won't comfort me on my deathbed, but knowing that I lived a full and fulfilling life might.
What's your take? Do you take full advantage of every travel opportunity as if it were your last, too?
Amanda Williams is the award-winning blogger behind A Dangerous Business Travel Blog. She has traveled to more than 60 countries on 6 continents from her home base in Ohio, specializing in experiential and thoughtful travel through the US, Europe, and rest of the world. Amanda only shares tips based on her personal experiences and places she's actually traveled!
[…] Life is short. Travel now. – A Dangerous Business […]
great advise…. Indeed your observation during your Alaska cruise is right! People wait for their golden days to enjoy life and travel.. unfortunately, as much as they wanted to enjoy, their physical body limits them..
Great post!
It’s not to say that ALL older travelers have postponed travel. Some have probably been traveling their entire lives. But it does sometimes make you wonder. I just know that I want to travel NOW, while I still can!
Thanks for reading!
[…] Life is Short – Travel Now by A Dangerous Business […]
Great article! Very inspiring! So true that plans never stay the same. I’ve learned that and now I act more in the moment than I used to.
Thank you, Bob! I’m glad you pulled some inspiration from this — that was the whole goal of my writing it! 🙂
And there’s nothing better than just living in the moment!
Beautiful Words. I agree with what you say here. A lot of people have questioned my dedication to travel, using the words ‘frivolous’ and ‘selfish’. What I’ve enjoyed most about the blogging community so far is knowing there are people who feel the same way I do about traveling.
Looking forward to your ‘Out West’ adventures!
As baffling as it sometimes is to me, there are some people out there that just don’t like to travel, and don’t want to travel. And yes, they call us “selfish” and “childish” and accuse us of running away from something. And those people are just never going to “get it.” But there are plenty of others out there who do! And that’s who we should surround ourselves with. 🙂
Wonderfully put. Reading this post reminded me of this quote by Mark Twain, “20 years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the things you did.” It’s so true in the context of travel. Thanks for reminding me 🙂
Thank YOU, Shivya! And yes, that Mark Twain really knew what he was talking about! That quote is so perfect, especially in the context of what we travel lovers do.
An American wrote that quote but always dedicated to Mark Twain for some reason?
Well, Mark Twain was an American…
Yes, yes, yes! It’s especially important to do it when you are young. As you said, you may not be physically able to do those things when you’re older. And there are so many other reasons– that it’s hard to travel with kids (it is, I know), that it’s really hard to travel when you have a career and little time off, etc….. I wrote something similar to inspire young people to get out and travel (I traveled a lot when I was young but realize now I could have done so much more!): http://thisismyhappiness.com/?p=2200
Thanks for reading, Jenna! And, yes it is important (to an extent) to do as much as you can when you’re young! Sure, there are plenty of people who travel after they’re married, once they have jobs, and even with kids. But, let’s be honest — it’s not the same! The longer you put it off, the tougher it gets to actually make it happen.
I will be sure to check out your post, too!
This is a very inspiring read! When I was standing outside of La Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, contemplating paying the steep entrance fee, I realized that I just might not return. I must go in, no matter the price. I learned this attitude I think from my Dad. When he travels, he always travels as though he will never return, doing and seeing as much as he can. I think you have a similar philosophy. I keep waiting for my bank account to grow to make my next big travel move, but I should just go, as you say.
It’s so sad that money gets to dictate so much in our lives. Wouldn’t it be great not to have to worry about it??
But yes, your dad sounds like me when I travel. Even though I’d LIKE to return to many of the places I’ve been to, I know that, realistically, it may never happen. So I try to do and see as much as possible. I don’t really know the meaning of “slow” travel because of this. Lol.
I can understand wanting to pad your bank account a bit before a big trip — I do this, too. But, if you know where you want to go and think you have the funds right now to make it happen, I say DO IT!
Truer words were ne’er spoken. Life is definitely too short to be spent chained to a desk.
Loved seeing a few of my favorite NZ locales in there too. Making me miss the place.
Thanks so much, Chris. And yes, life is WAY too short to spend in a cubicle! I know this economy is tough right now, but that still doesn’t mean anyone should be miserable in their jobs… Half the battle of being happy is deciding that you WANT to be happy. Life is too short to decide anything else.
And as for missing, NZ — I miss it every single day.
I have friends who had 3 kids, saved for years and waited until all was right with their young-adult kids and just as they were getting ready to buy their round-the-world tickets she was diagnosed with MS. Rather than leaping on the opportunity to GO immediately they spent years watching her become more disabled and ultimately die. The trip never happened for either of them. I can’t help but think that any slight decrease in her lifespan caused by the travel would have been more than worth it.
In the last decade or so (I am, annoyingly, in my 50s) I have had friends make comments like “I wish I could do what you’re doing…”. I’ve stopped sugar-coating my response as I’m tired of hearing it. I say, “Well, you *could* if you didn’t marry yourself to your McMansion, or if you hadn’t decided that breeding was more important than travel.”. OK, I only think the part about breeding, but I do make the point that they are doing precisely what they’ve decided to do, as am I.
I own a house in Colorado and there’s not a week go buy when I don’t think about selling the house, renting a tiny apartment somewhere and traveling more. And perhaps working less 🙂
That’s so sad about your friends. 🙁 That’s exactly the reason I wrote this post, however. It kills me to hear stories like that; of people dreaming their whole lives of traveling, only to have life catch up with them too soon.
And good for you to point out to your seemingly jealous friends that they, too, could be doing what you are if they really wanted to. Sometimes, I think people are under the impression that we travelers are somehow different than them; that we live differently or have uncovered some secret that lets us travel as much as we do. But there’s no secret. We just go after our dreams, and mold our lives into what we want them to be. ANYONE can do it if they want. But it takes effort. And, unfortunately, most people are lazy.
I have a 4th edition “Europe through the back door” that I bought in 1984 when it was the current edition of the book and I was 25 and getting ready for my first trip “on my own” to Europe. He espouses in that book the concept that it’s all about choices. At the time Steves was young, single and had a tiny apartment in Seattle filled with second-hand furniture. He was all about saving money for travel and not attempting to be just like everyone else with car/house/mortgage, etc… I have tried to take that philosophy to heart over the years, and while I’ve not traveled enough, yet, I’m still working on it.
One thing I’ve discovered over the last couple of years – traveling with a laptop is a huge PITA. Not only are they heavy (the penultimate evil for a “light” traveler like me) but they inspire you to “be connected” wherever you are. And thus you never get away. I semi-ruined 3 weeks in Sweden (my second home) by never disconnecting from my “world” when I was visiting friends and continuing my explorations. In NZ this year I took an iPad configured with gmail only so I could make reservations and use google maps, but ignored all e-mail, facebook and everything else for the entire time I was gone. It was awesome. I was always in the moment and didn’t care about the world.
The availability of being “connected” on the road these days can indeed be a bit tricky. It’s not any fun lugging a laptop around, but I’m one of those people who actually feels quite weird being disconnected on the road. Then again, I do run a frequently-updated travel blog on the Internet, so perhaps that has something to do with it. 😉
I suppose that’s true. People would probably think you’d died if you stopped communicating while on a trip 🙂
Oh yes.. people are *definitely* lazy. Everybody wants to have done what you’ve done, but nobody wants to actually do it enough to make the same sacrifices. I call these people “losers”.
I definitely agree to some point. I don’t see the point in traveling if you’re not going to do DO anything: if you’re simply going to hole up in a hostel and cook your own food and not spend any money on experiences! I tend to be fairly frugal, but I do splurge on once-in-a-lifetime experiences: paragliding in the Bavarian alps, canyoning in the Swiss Alps, eating at haute gastronomie restaurant in France. However, one of the things I’m most proud of is that I have no debt and I don’t carry a credit card balance. I’m all for traveling and having fun, but I cringe when I see friends taking out massive loans to study abroad and travel every weekend while they’re there: sure, it’s fun, but I certainly wouldn’t want to be paying the INTEREST on that loan for years to come. To me, it’s all about acting as if there is no tomorrow–but also planning just in case tomorrow does comes 🙂
You have a great travel philosphy, Christine. And I like that last part — traveling as if there’s no tomorrow, but planning just in case there is… Good stuff!
I certainly wouldn’t encourage anyone to go into massive debt in order to travel! But a lot of people already have a lot of debt from school, etc., and I would hate to think that that would stop them from traveling. You are very lucky not to have any debt! I’m jealous.
Excellent post and very good points all of them. So why do you travel? Ever had the desire to do some long term travelling?
I travel because I love it. I love the adventure, meeting new people, seeing beautiful places in person that I’ve only read about in books. The world is so big, and traveling makes me realize how little of it I know about.
I won’t ever rule out some long-term travel, but it’s not something that will be in my immediate future. But travel? Travel (in some form) will always be a part of my life, past, present and future.
Thanks for reading, Steven!
Agreed on this point-travel will always be part of my life, simply because it’s what makes me who I am.
Thoughts on the older people on the cruise with their canes and wheelchairs: Maybe they were just like us at one point and vowed that travel would always be part of their lives. Props to them for still doing it, no matter the difficulties. Something to think about!
Good point, Claire! And I certainly like to think that those older cruising couples spent their whole lives chasing travel dreams. I’m happy to see people of ANY age traveling — I just hope they’re actually enjoying it!
I’m so jealous of you for admitting that you travel with reckless abandon!
Deep down, I know I’m the same way. But all I do is lie to my wallet and justify those spontaneous trips or spur-of-the-moment decisions in some ridiculous sense. Needless to say, my wallet knows I’m in denial.
Hahaha, I didn’t expect anyone to be jealous of that admission of mine! It’s true, though. I make sure I have all the important things covered when I travel (flights, places to sleep, food), and then I try not to worry about the rest. I hate feeling restricted (or worse – stressed) when I travel. Not worrying about how much money I’m spending is actually sort of liberating!
(Granted, I never do things I can’t truly afford. But I also don’t count my pennies, or keep a running tally of what I’m spending. On a short trip, I don’t see the point, so long as my bank account still has money in it!)
You’re so right and this couldn’t have come at a better time for me to read because now that we’re in Europe everything seems SO expensive compared to South America where we spent the last few months. While we aren’t cutting out anything that I think we’ll miss, we do have a tendency to question money more now. You’re right though, we took this trip so we could see all the things we won’t want to drag a child around to if we have one in the next year or so – it’s stupid to scrimp too much!
Awesome, so happy to hear this post has inspired you a bit! I know that paying attention to your travel budget IS important. But, will you have the opportunity to do some of these things again? Maybe. But maybe not. Don’t go home with any trave regrets!! You saved all this money in order to travel. So put it to good use!
Bravo. At 64 I can certainly vouch for the truth in your post! I’ve always loved travel, never done enough to satisfy me, but I my best memories outside of those with kids are of travel, and the years when I didn’t travel I see as a total waste. A 70 year old I know said to me the other day that he had saved his money over the years so that he can travel now that he has the time and money, trouble is that his wife died last year, so now he has no-one with whom to share travels. He’s not a loner, so solo travel isn’t for him. I don’t doubt that he wishes he’d taken the opportunities he had when younger.
That’s so sad about that 70-year-old man. That’s what I’d be afraid of, if I decided to put travel off until later. Now what will he do with all that time and money? 🙁
Thanks so much for reading, Linda. And I’m glad you can vouch for the message in this post! 🙂 I hope you’re getting in as much travel as you possibly can!