14 Janvier 2017, 12:10 pm CST

The other day, we were talking about going on one of those world cruises. Like seriously that would be the first thing I would do if I won the lottery, just after turning my business over to someone to manage while I was gone. They aren’t cheap. They cost upwards of $50k or so, for a good room that you could stand to be in for 128 days straight.  It oh the sights you see on the journey. If I ever found out I had a terminal disease and had enough time to make the journey, that is what I would do. See the world and see everything over ever wanted to see kind of thing, you know? 

So the other night we were talking about how cool it would be to go on one. I told Sweetie that i would do that if something ever happened to him. He looked at me with a sad and puzzled face and asked why would you wait until then, why not go now?  Several reasons, really, but the biggest is money, of course. I don’t happen to have $20K just lying around waiting on me to take a world cruise. It’s just not in the cards for now. Maybe someday, as we all say.  It, seriously, what else is holding me back?  

Partly it is responsibility. Although we have no kids at home, we do have a mortgage, and we have jobs. Otherwise, we have nearly no responsibilities since we have no other debt. Our house has greatly appreciated in value since we bought it, so we could sell it and make a tidy profit if we wanted to. It’s almost like if we could sell the house and then go on the world cruise, we could come back and then buy something inexpensive to live in. But then, what goals would we have? 

Travel has opened up so many possibilities for me. We have been to So many places, with so many more left to see, of course. This summer, we’ll add four more countries to the list, at least, and we are looking to add one or two in the spring. Some say, there will be no more to add to the list, of places we want to go, anyway. There are a few that I never want to see. The scary ones. The really destitute ones. The ones where Americans are not welcome. Been there once already and don’t ever want to go back. 

Travel has made me a better person. If not for my lifelong pen pal and others, I believe that I would be a very different person. I believe that I would be more prejudicial, less tolerant, and less forgiving. I believe that I would be less open to the ideas of others. I believe that I would be a very different person. If he had not traveled, or if he had not wanted to do so, I would never have married him. That would have been a deal killer. From 5-32 I didn’t see an ocean. That’s very very sad. It still makes me so very incredibly angry that I want to call up my ex and tell him that he stole my youth, the jerk. Because I feel like that’s what he did. 

So back to the initial question, why not travel now? Why not toss off the trappings of modern life and just go? Take a leave of absence from work. Get someone to fill in for me for a bit, find a sitter for Mox. We could do it, right? I don’t see why not. If anything to leave to your children, leave them a legacy of hope, a love of adventure, and a lifetime of journeys. Thats my take on it. I am totally spending their inheritance. I didn’t receive one, so I don’t really see the issue in not providing  one. Being a Gen Xer is like being the Squished Generation. We had to pay for our kids, and our parents, and we had to work really hard for everything we got. So I say go now, and don’t wait. There are only so many tomorrows.