Rationalizing Wanderlust

The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.

-- St. Augustine

Although certainly not exclusively the domain of bespectacled lovers of the written word, traveling is not an easy hobby to pursue. For those who live in the real world, where oil prices are currently inching toward the $200 per barrel mark and so on and so forth, it takes a certain level of financial confidence to be able to indulge your wanderlust and go where the wind may take you. Not to mention, a lot of VL credits, and also a certain amount of chutzpah to convince the head honchos that, yes, you are a very important cog in that well-oiled machine that you helped grease up and that although your time-out might bring about the ruin of the company as they know it, chances are they’ll endure in your absence, and so they need to let you go as you please--or else...

My last trip, albeit a little more "short and sweet" than I would normally care for (it's just a paradox), was certainly an eye-opener. When I saw the never-ending expanse of good ole Mother Nature in all her verdant glory, I felt something deep inside me being quenched, like a ripple swelling from inside out, saturating the weary soul. And it felt goodah!

I may have been a bit flippant in the past about serial traveling, but I realize that traveling can only do you good. No duh. But seriously now. Notwithstanding the present economic pickle we're all in that demands a little more effort from each of us in terms of conscious consumerist deliberation, if you should find yourself at a crossroads of sorts and faced with the question, “To go or not to go?” there’s only one way to rationalize it:

If you can, go.

Like them Nike ads say, just do it. End of story. And if you do your homework right, it’s gonna be well worth it. Satisfaction guaranteed.

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.

-- Mark Twain

I like to be prepared for the future, thank you very much.

Something to help you with homework...

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