Also, I'm very much aware of how blessed I am to be in a position that I'm able to live out this philosophy. That and despite the perimeters set up in the article that show how everyone can travel if they want, I know some people are legitimately restricted from traveling for reasons out of their control.
"The world is a book
and those who don't travel only read a page."
and those who don't travel only read a page."
Stop Delaying
That Big Trip.
Stop It.
FEB. 22,
2012
As
anyone who moves to another country knows, one of the guaranteed side effects
of your change in time zone is going to be your friends, acquaintances, and
even strangers constantly telling you how “lucky” you were to “get away.” Of
course the initial reaction can be a touch of resentment at the implication
that your arriving in this new land was simply a result of falling into an
airplane/ pile of money, and waking up magically in the apartment of your
dreams. As we know, it’s most often through a lot of hard, tedious work,
patience, mountains of bureaucracy, and being at the bottom rung of everything
for a while until you get adjusted to your new culture, language, and space.
But for people who dream of living somewhere else — people who have a need to explore,
learn a new language, or have always dreamed of a particular city, there is
nothing more rewarding. And while when you’re boarding the plane with no return
ticket and no clear idea of how you’re going to suddenly construct an entirely
new life for yourself, things can be incredibly intimidating, no drug on the
planet could possibly replace the thrill. It’s wonderful.
But
even just to take a trip to a new country you’ve always dreamed of is an
undertaking in itself — even if you plan on having firmly in hand that mythical
return ticket so many of us have yet to procure. Sure, riding rickety trains
from city to city in Eastern Europe, whittling your own walking stick in the
Himalayas, renting a tiny bungalow on a beach in Thailand, drinking wine and eating
good bread under the Eiffel Tower — these all seem amazing. They seem like some
kind of dream. Yet they seem so far away. They seem somehow unattainable — that
there are too many things standing between you and the foreign joy you’ve so
long imagined. Paperwork, plane tickets, finding a place to stay, learning
those cursory phrases that prove to be much more indispensable than you could
have anticipated — not a one can be left off the list. Personally speaking,
though I have known since I was a little girl that I always wanted to go to
Paris and had learned to speak the language before setting foot in the
territory — I had many false starts for my big trip. Even when I didn’t plan to
live there, I just wanted to visit, there was always something that stood in
the way — some reason I couldn’t justify it. Even when friends in Paris would
offer me a place to stay, tickets were at their most inexpensive, and the
weather was perfect — something happened and I didn’t go. By the time I finally
made my first trip, it felt like I could finally exhale after holding my breath
for years. I had done it; I was here.
And
now, I hear at least once a day from someone — whether here in France looking
to finally see the U.S., or from friends at home who won’t use my offer of a
couch in my apartment to convince themselves it’s time to finally see Europe —
that they just “can’t go.” The timing isn’t right, the money isn’t there, they
have to get a new passport, they can’t find anyone to go with, they can’t get
vacation time, things are just not going to work out right now. And these are
often the same people who’ve been talking for six straight years about how much
they want to go and travel — they are the ones who actively want to get out. I’ll have the same
conversation over and over with friends — often friends who are at the peak no
real responsibility/ a decent amount of disposal income combination. Friends
who have jobs, sure, but have vacation time to take if they plan ahead of time.
It goes like this, time after time:
Friend: Ugh, I’m so jealous of you. I want to see Europe so
badly. I really should go. I want to come to Paris and drink coffee at those
outdoor tables!
Me: Well, you should come and visit! I can come get you from the
airport and you can stay with me!
Friend: Yeah, but the tickets are so expensive.
Me: Well, if you buy them now, they’ll be about 550 bucks round
trip for the early summer — which is the best time to come, I think.
Friend: Yeah, but I don’t think I can get time off of work.
Me: Why don’t you talk to your boss now and see what time you
have available this summer, and then go off of that?
Friend: Yeah, I don’t know. I’ll let you know.
Cut to them not getting back to me, and them starting the next
conversation with me a few weeks later with “Omg how is Paris ugh wish I were
there.” And this is almost universal — the exact same justifications, the exact
same desire to go, the exact same reasons why it will never work. Year after
year after year. And granted, I have had friends visit with me and they’ve
always enjoyed the city — and it always helps to have someone to show you
around and help you figure things out, not to mention the free bed. Not
everyone has talked themselves out of it. However, most of the people I’ve seen
here from the States are people to whom traveling in general is an
indispensable part of life, something that comes at the top of their leisure
spending priorities. In fact, I recently had a conversation with a friend about
this very topic — one who is what I would refer to as a “travel addict.” He
said,
I don’t make that much money. I mean, I make enough, but I stay
in hostels and couch surf and always live on the cheap when I travel. I buy
tickets way in advance for off-season times and I try to find places where I
know people I can stay with or who can show me around. When I’m home, I don’t
spend a ton of money on going out or shopping for a few months before I travel
— it’s something you can save for if you want to. There’s always a way to put
the money aside, especially when you’re young and don’t have a family or a
house or whatever. Anyway, if I don’t do it now, I probably never will — I
couldn’t live with that.
And yet, when people talk to him, they consistently act amazed
that he manages to get around the way he does without his parents’ help or a
very lucrative job. He is equally bewildered, I think, with how much they don’t
realize they spend just going out at night or shopping on weekends. To each his
own, of course, but to act as though traveling — especially when you’re young —
is some kind of insane luxury that is utterly unattainable unless the stars
align perfectly and God hands you a couple hundred dollar bills while no one is
looking is ludicrous.
My best friend here in Paris works in the hotel industry, and
loves his job. He is the ultimate guide — you tell him someone is new in town,
he’ll introduce them to everyone and show them the five best places to go for
any occasion. He knows where to get the best croissant — which is different
from the place with the best pain au chocolate, it must be said. You imagine he
just has a map of the city on the palm of his hand that he checks when no one
is looking. And when you ask him about his favorite thing about his job, he’ll
say,
When a much older couple comes in, and they can’t do much in
their day, so you have to help them find the best things for what they like
that aren’t too far apart. They’ll say, “Thank you so much. We’ve been waiting
all our lives to take this trip–but it just got so hard to come here with
children and the house and everything. We just didn’t come.” Nothing makes me
happier than making their trip special and exciting. And they’ll always say,
“You’re so young. Go see the world, then come back and build your life.”
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