Observance of carefree travel days

I’m not in a position to give anyone life advice, but I can’t help but share some of my recent experiences with travel, life, and aging. In some ways I see this blog as a diary, and sometimes it feels good to type things out.

For some context, I think I’m having more ideas as I get older. I’m 32 – I’m not “old” by any means, but I’m also not young anymore. Growing up, I remember being told that the days are long but the years are short. I’ve definitely started to feel that way in the last couple of years. That brings me to the travel angle, and how much my age affects my attitude and desire to travel, and that’s a good thing and a bad thing.

Travel (and life) have been carefree before.

When I was young, travel was indifferent to me. I had a different youth than most – in college, I didn’t go partying every weekend, instead I went commuting. Even after I graduated from college, I basically lived to support myself, and I lived in hotels full-time. It was me and what I carried, and that was liberating.

I look back fondly on those times, and I’m so glad I had those experiences. When I look back on that era, I think of US Airways Dividend Miles, British Midland Diamond Club, Lufthansa’s old first class product, SWISS’ many partner first class awards, the brief period when Turkish Airlines leased Jet Airways’ 777s. And had the first class, etc. fun times!

From an outsider’s perspective, some might think I feel lonely or sad (I mean, I can’t count the number of people who actually told me that at the time), but it’s something I’m very happy about, and I have no regrets. .

I’m not necessarily advocating that others do the same. Instead, my point is that pursuing anything you love at a young age – no matter how weird – is great. Of course, this assumes you can do it. I know I’m very lucky to be able to follow my passion and make a living from it.

Here in the world of miles and points, when I see a group of people ten years younger than me traveling, I think to myself, “It’s worth it, and I hope you’ll always remember these good times.”

And that brings me to how my life has changed a bit, but not in a bad way…

The more I get, the harder it is to travel.

I just started my current review trip, where I will be flying (almost) non-stop for the next several days. I love flying every bit as much as I did ten years ago, but with each trip the feeling of leaving home gets harder. I’ve obviously come a long way here, because back in the day I wasn’t even home. Even when I finally get home, after a few days I’m itching to go somewhere.

Leaving Ford, Miles, Winston, my mom, etc. gets harder with each trip.

• Leaving Ford (my husband) at home is the easiest part of all of this. We both work from home and spend most of our time together, so a few days apart is good for our relationship.
• Leaving Winston (our dog) behind is the hardest part; He follows me every step of the way, and I can’t control the look on his face when I’m carrying my bag (which I only do about 15 minutes before I’m out the door on purpose).
• It’s hard to leave Miles (our son), because I don’t want to miss anything in his development; But I know that leaving him will be hard in the future, when he actually gets older and (hopefully!) misses me, etc.
• And of course my mother continues to fight cancer; I want to spend as much time with her as possible and have no regrets, but this does not make it easier to get on a plane and travel far.

Back in the day I used to go to the airport without a care in the world, now going to the airport eats me up. And at the end of the day, I know I’m incredibly blessed to have people (and creatures) that I miss, because most people don’t have that.

Let me be clear, I still absolutely love travel and am a huge avgeek. I try to forget what I left behind the day I left. But when I walk out the door, it makes my stomach turn a little. I’m writing this post from a flight, and it reminded me how much I love flying (and how to drink Copa Sauvignon Blanc, but that’s for a different post). The clouds form, lightning flashes in the distance, day turns into night… it’s simply magical.

This evolution is not a bad thing.

This post is by no means intended to be a “woe is me, life is wasting away, I’m crazy, I’m not young” reflection. On the contrary, it is meant to acknowledge different levels of life. If I were where I was ten years ago, I would be very sad and lonely.

I can’t change my current situation for anything. I am happy to be home and go about my daily life. But with that happiness also comes sadness when there are things to miss.

When it comes to travel, one of the things I’m most excited about is being able to see travel (and the world) through Miles’ eyes. You can never recreate a different travel experience for the first time, but you can see it through the eyes of a child, and I think that’s a beautiful thing.

The moral of the story is if you’re young, you’re traveling a lot, you’re eternal, whatever it is…it works for you. If you’re having fun and not hurting anyone, that’s all that matters. Some people may judge your life from the outside, but that doesn’t matter. I think it’s important to be happy for what life has to offer at every stage and happiness can come in many forms.

And I hope that this may not be the last phase of life I experience when it comes to travel, because things may not always be the way they are now. Well, maybe in 18+ years (beyond Miles doing his own thing, whatever) Ford and I will be back on a carefree ride, sipping dirty martinis in an airline lounge somewhere before our engines boom at 7AM. Fly somewhere else without a care in the world… or not. Oh that’s fine by me.

at last

Life is an adventure, and I realize that more are passing by each day. Adventures can come in many forms, and in most cases they don’t even require leaving the house. There is much joy in everyday life, even in the chaos.

As I reflect, I can’t help but realize how much my perspective on life and travel has changed over the past decade, and especially over the past five years. I didn’t want to be anywhere for more than a few days, and I couldn’t run out the door fast enough. Nowadays you basically have to drag me home (though not in a David Dao way). I wake up healthy, happy and well rested, and those around me are safe.

Thanks for taking me through this reflection… and if anyone has anything to add on the topic in the comments section, I’d love to hear it! I learn every day of my life, and if I’m lucky enough to live in ten years, I’m excited to see how my perspective will evolve. Time is running out.