I came upon a realization today that made me both a little happy and a little sad.
While discussing travel options with another Facebook user, I mentioned how now that I’m retired I was enjoy the ‘getting there’ as much as the destination when I travel. After I said it I realized that I could have had that outlook from the beginning. What did I overlook by rushing to my destinations? What would I have seen or done if I’d driven, or taken a bus?
About a year ago, before retirement, I took a weekend train from Seattle to Sacramento. Then I hopped into a Lyft, went to the airport and flew back. I did the same to Chicago. I shifted my outlook and made the trip the vacation and not the destination. In September I’m going to Europe. Two weeks and I’m planning on visiting six cities in as many countries. People are telling me that I’m going too many places, and that I should pare my selections down to two or three. They’re seeing the cities as the focus of my trip while I’m counting the trains between them as well. I’m not taking a trip to Paris or Vienna or Budapest. I’m taking a two week train trip with stops to smell the roses along the way. It’s a difference I probably wouldn’t have considered previously.
The light bulb has been turned on. Sometimes it takes a while.
You must be logged in to post a comment.