What If . . .
Posted on Jul 18, 2012 | 25 comments
What if we traveled the world forever?
Wouldn't that be cool. We could just go and do whatever we wanted. Spend all our time with the kids. Swim. Eat noodles for breakfast and ice cream for dinner. Climb stuff. Soak up everything. Explore. Enjoy. It would be our ultimate adventure. It would be awesome.
Of course we would need money. We would have to make some sacrifices. We'd have to cut back. We'd have to give up this and that. I'm not sure what life would be like without this and that.
We'd have to quit our jobs and leave our careers. That could be pretty stupid. We've worked hard to get here. Seems like a shame to give it all up. I wonder what my boss will say.
The kids might miss school and the house. They love home. They love their friends. And who knows how they will react to eating noodles for breakfast. And it's probably not best for them to eat ice cream for dinner.
And what about the all that bad stuff out there? The world seems to be exploding. We will see things. Things might happen to us. I'm sure I don't want that. Life is safer here.
Selling the house is going to be a pain. Selling all our stuff is going to be tough as well. And where do we store everything we don't sell? What if the house doesn't sell? I don't want to think about it.
Insurance is a nightmare. We could get sick. Coming back home would be a tough sell without insurance. I hate insurance.
Say we do this. Say we go. What happens when the money runs out? We can't waste all our time lying on a beach. One day we'll wake up and the bank account will be dry and the dream will be dead. We need to think of a way to make money!
This might not be the best idea. Kids need structure. Kids need security. We need security. I don't know about this whole travel thing.
All these "what ifs".
All these worries.
We could just take long vacations. I'll work something out with work and we'll just make sure we travel more. We'll have money if we just stay put and maybe we can buy a timeshare. At least we won't have to worry about losing everything. I think I could put up with my job for a few more years. I'll just make sure I get up early every day and work on my special project. I'll make time. At least the kids will be secure.
But geez . . . traveling the world would be awesome, right? Think of what we could do. Think of what we would see every day. We could work with the kids instead of working for the kids. We would see each other for more than a few hours a day. We could get creative. We could really help people. We would have so much time. Man, that would be great.
I don't know.
Do you think we really know what we want?
I think we do. I think we're just scared to do it.
What would happen if everyday we woke up and we just did what felt right?
Hmmmm......
We could create just for the sake of creating instead of always worrying about money and such.
We could work just to help others instead of always thinking about how our work benefits us.
We could be with the kids just to be with the kids instead of always thinking about structure and impact and all the stuff the doctor books like to tell you.
We could just go and enjoy life and see what happens.
What if we did this? What if we just went and forgot that we're supposed to worry about everything?
This sounds scary.
This sounds fun.
This sounds right.
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Very moving. These are the thoughts that plague my days and nights. "What would happen if everyday we woke up and we just did what felt right?" Yeah, that is going to be my mantra tomorrow. Thanks!
Rose Townsend recently posted..Using nature to introduce simple graphs
You got it Rose. Took me like my whole life to figure that out, but I think I've got it now.
I think I've had that conversation with myself in my head before - how did you know??
I love the idea of forgetting we are supposed to worry. I'm going to try that
Kirsty recently posted..Living in the Present – a promise to myself
I'm sure you have had it - we all have! I'll be worry free with you Kirsty!
Hello.
GREAT POST!!
Before our first year trip, the WHAT IFs were terrifying to me
What if we get sick (we did)
What if we have no where to stay (happened twice)
What if......we fight, miss the plane, etc
The year was AMAZING....so much so that July 1, 2012 we left AGAIN!
this time for AT LEAST a year....we will see what happens!
Thanks for the reminder! Don't let the "What if's" WIN!!
Happy Travels!
Lisa and George Rajna
We Said Go Travel
Lisa Niver Rajna recently posted..10 Questions from Contiki!
Nice! Glad to hear! Confidence in numbers!
For some reason, while I was reading this post, I thought of two things.
1. You can always come back to your life, but you can never go home again. I think part of that is a quote from somewhere but i am too lazy to find it.
2. I am reminded of a documentary I saw about a man who was a medical doctor who lived out of a motorhome with his, I think, four children. They did what they wanted, lived their lives on the road. He also forbade the children to go to a normal-type school.
The romance of the road is intoxicating and a wonderful thing to do. If all fails, you can come back (have a re-entry fund).
The only question to ask yourself is would you regret not going?
Well said Colina. Have a back-up plan and go - it's that simple. Thanks!
The documentary is called, "Surfwise ".
Thanks for thinking out loud and articulating your thought processes. My husband and I share the same desires/concerns/fears that you've expressed. Maybe having a re-entry bank account is a good idea to relieve the fears and give ourselves the financial and emotional margin that will help us relax and just do it.
brilliant. Realize your dreams.
monique recently posted..market day mementos
Yeah, "What if we just went and forgot that we're supposed to worry about everything?" Then life could begin, couldn't it! SOOOO exciting for you guys to jump in SOOOON!!!!
Living Outside of the Box recently posted..Are we running to or from?
What if we worked in the same job for years and got laid off two years before retirement?
What if we worked such long hours that someone else raised our children?
What if we scrimped and saved, and threw everything towards our gigantic mortgage only to wake up and find the housing market had tanked and we'd lost half the value of our property? And then we got laid off at work....and the bank foreclosed on the dream house after all.
What if we got sick or disabled and couldn't continue to work?
What if we saved for years and years and years and then, just four months after retirement had a massive stroke and spent all that savings on hiring a live-in aide because you can't do anything by yourself anymore?
What if we followed all the "rules" and put in the late night hours and then watched someone younger and hipper get the promotion and pay raise and status that seemed so critical to our existence?
What if we woke up one morning and a spouse or child said "you never have time for me. I'm leaving."?
What if we eat right and exercise and keel over from a heart attack at 35? Or get hit by a bus? Or shot at a midnight movie?
There are no guarantees. There are plenty of what ifs.
Define your dream....then follow it.
Rose Godfrey recently posted..Choose Your Path Carefully
Thanks for that Rose! EXACTLY!
Perfect, Rose! I just got back from a camping trip and read this. Well done!
Might as well get living and doing what we love.
Well written Rose!!!
Heather Costaras recently posted..Fascinating New Monument… with a hidden secret.
I have this little dialogue in my head often... minus the kids. It seems so daunting, so scary. But isn't the alternative so much scarier? Well, to me it is anyway! I'd rather just do it and not feel regret that I didn't live how I WANTED to live. It's hard with all the "what ifs" but if you push past them hopefully a nice balance can be reached. Or... all or nothing!
Andrea recently posted..Bad week. Bad, bad week.
Wow, Justin! That is an awesome, down to the bones post of all the questions that I'm sure everyone one of us has felt and still feels sometimes.
For us, the journey is part of the arrival. We've been on the 'road' for over 2 years now with our 4 & 2 year old and still ask some of these questions. They don't go away completely, but the alternative of going back 'home' just doesn't even enter our mind anymore.
We live by WHAT IS, rather than WHAT IF.
And that is most drastic shift of our paradigm.
A King's Life - Digital Nomad Family recently posted..Why I Love Having a Personal Chef
So go already!
I faced all of those "What ifs" about 12 years ago, took a deep breath and worked out a way to make it happen. It took time, and a change in careers. My interest was never to travel full-time, but I wanted to work in another country full-time and travel some of the time. I now have a life style that is pretty much perfect for me....a job that is not without its stresses (teaching), but short classroom time and long vacations (5 months a year). This works for me. Something else will work for someone else. I say...figure out what will work for you and do it, because at the end of the day you'll end up saying "I wish I had."
Nancie recently posted..Travel Photo Thursday — July 26, 2012 — Beating the Heat in Budapest.
Hello, I love reading this site. Thank you for writing some very personal fears and thoughts. It is what we (I) think about when planning the next journey. You've made the first step, now to put plans into action. I'm not certain where you are in your planning or actions, but I am very excited to read more. Thank you.
Claudia recently posted..Move to Lose – Moving to a Different Country to Lose Weight
As Rose so eloquently put it, I always look at the other 'what ifs?'
What if I die tomorrow? Will I be happy with the life I have chosen? Life is too short to be too afraid to live the life you dream of!
Amy @WorldschoolAdventures recently posted..How High’s the Water Mama?
Nice post, Justin... and I love Rose's take. You guys have said it all!
Heather Costaras recently posted..Fascinating New Monument… with a hidden secret.
Awesome post. I agree with Rose too, but it's tricky sometimes and your words could have been echoing in my own head.
It's having children that does it! I was a bit more fearless pre-children, now I have the pressure of the extended family, friends, people I don't even know sprouting doom and questioning our abililty to look after our own children.
We normally laugh and fob it all off, but sometimes those negative thoughts wriggle in and they seem to expand ferociously.
Happy travels.
Carla recently posted..The party