I must confess that I do enjoy reading about people's travels, and I really enjoy the variety of travel photoblogs we have here on Hive.
The rock of Gibraltar, near where we lived in Spain, when I was a teenager
That said, having traveled — and moved — extensively in my youth, I don't necessarily miss traveling, and feel quite content to live vicariously through other people's exploits.
The one thing that periodically gives me pause for thought is how people get funding to do all that traveling. I mean, it seems like they are in a new country virtually every week, and going all over the place... all at a time when virtually everything in life is in an upspiral of expense.
Perhaps my perspective is skewed by the fact that it is an actual consideration for us to visit somewhere 100 miles away even for a day trip, because the cost of filling the gas tank for the outing has to come from somewhere.
But current poverty aside, even when I was in my 20s, going somewhere on a trip often averaged out to easily $200 a day — all told, after airfare, food, lodging, etc. — and even with a regular job it was something to save up for and do maybe once a year.
Not every week.
View in Denmark, from my youth
But then again, I was never very social so I didn't have 47 friends I could stay with in every city I visited, and I generally chose not to spend my nights crashed on a park bench or a bench at the train station.
Which, perhaps, brings up the deeper considerations that come into play, in our lives.
I was never much of a collector of experiences. I was not driven by a great need for variety and change; "what already was" typically was quite adequate to keep me happily going about my life.
Much of the travel I did was "required" rather than voluntary, so calling it "fun" would be to apply a completely wrong label to it. Most of the time I was just waiting to get home again...
Rock formations in Joshua Tree National Park, California
People ask me whether we are going to travel a lot when we retire.
It's a question I'd normally answer a hard no to, both because it's unlikely we could afford to, but also because it's unlikely we'll actually ever be able to retire. We're going to likely have to keep working for as long as our minds and bodies are able... and after that? Not sure what will happen...
I know there's a lot of "enthusiastic optimism" in the world, pointing to a future in which everything becomes plentiful and inexpensive. I hate to say it, but we're actually seeing the exact opposite unfold. Life simply gets more and more expensive every year.
Which isn't anybody's fault, except maybe for an overall system that depends for it's very life on an eternal spiral of increasing consumption.
But — at least — I'll keep looking at the photos from other people's travels and think to myself "Well, isn't THAT a beautiful spot!"
Thanks for stopping by, and have a great rest of your week!
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Created at 2024.12.18 18:02 PST
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