Trade offs

For most of us, our entire lives are defined by trade offs. If you want this, you cannot have that. If you want a bike, save up.  If you want to live in the city, you will have to make d0 with less space. And, I suppose, to a certain extent that is true for most things. But, it got me thinking about travel and wondering if it, too, had to be a trade off?

A perfect example came this afternoon after work as I was walked to my 2001, 120,000 mile Nissan Altima. A very fast, very red Maserati made a swift turn and almost ran me over. I immediately thought,  "Who actually owns a Maserati?!" To my surprise, when I drove to the next intersection I realized that I actually knew the guy behind the wheel! This immediately made me ask a whole bunch of questions like, "How did this guy buy a Maserati? Isn't he afraid to drive it? I wonder how he picked that color?" But, the biggest question of all was, "I wonder what kind of things he is trading off (if anything) in order to own that kind of car?" Is he choosing not to travel? Or maybe choosing a public school for his kid vs. private? I was shocked by my own immediate assumption that there had to be trade off for something that you love, that nothing good came without some sacrifice. Did it really?

(I prefer plane tickets to shoes)

This set me off in a whole spin of questions regarding what I trade off in my life to do what I do. Why is it that I choose above all else a trip or vacation to owning a home or buying a new car? Why is it that I've never owned a purse over $30 or shoes over $100? Yet, I've been to Vietnam, Greece, Brazil, and countless other exotic locations. Is travel my guilty pleasure or just something I'm programed to do? Should travel be subject to the same trade off bucket as time and money? I've traveled with both money and without any money (including eating crackers for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for 2 weeks in Eastern Europe). Neither trip was better or worse-- just different and it taught me something new about myself and the place I was visiting (for one, I learned I absolutely despise crackers).

Then in hit me. Maybe travel can more than a thing, like cars and money, but instead more of a mindset that you choose to make a part of your life. I think of happiness as a similar sort of choice in life. When you choose to make it a part of your life, it almost comes effortlessly to you. Where as, when you say happiness is impossible or not something for you given the circumstances, it does indeed, seem so far away. Travel too can be so far away, if you let it be.

(Sometimes travel just makes you happy)

You are probably asking yourself, "But, I don't get it! Travel costs money and if I don't have it (or won't prioritize it), I can't do it!" To a certain extent, it is true (no matter how much I really want to give everyone a ticket around the world, I just can't). But, the bigger picture is that there are several simple things you can do each and everyday to bring a little travel into your life:

1. Turn on PBS and watch Rick Steves in action everyday, any day. The man is hilarious, intelligent, and transformative. I watched Rick Steves for years long before I had a passport or the money to consider getting one.
2. Go to the library and pick up a travel book on a country/region/state you have never considered going to. You'll learn a bit of history and you'll feel expanded without leaving your house.
3. Get in your car and get lost. We are so busy going to and from, that we often don't explore the areas near our own homes. Take a new way home from work and explore a new street.
4. Walk (or run)- it's free.
5. Buy a big, old Atlas and turn off that talking Garmin! With a Garmin it is so easy to "turn off" from the responsibility of traveling. With an Atlas and your own willpower, you may get their slower, but you'll get their more alert to your surroundings.

(Did I tell you that I love Rick Steves?)