Why Travel Now?
I’m dreaming of another trip to Africa, and planning an itinerary now. When I mention this to some people, they are surprised that I’m even considering committing a fair amount of money in these uncertain times for a big trip. Everyone worries about their financial future, and many of us boomers who have been careful and diligent our whole working lives now face increasingly depleted retirement savings and are unsure how we’ll come out on the other side of this economic meltdown.
It seems as if the world is recalibrating itself on all fronts at once. For many people, it’s a paralyzing situation. For me, it’s had the opposite effect. It has galvanized me into planning trip after trip after trip. My money doesn’t seem to safe anywhere, so I’m just going to spend it on experience. If you are managing to live responsibly on your income, then pay attention, make informed choices and continue to spend like you have in the past. For me , disposable income has always been earmarked for travel, and so this is just more of the same.So to hell with worrying about nursing home costs to take care of me in 20 years. I’m going NOW. While my knees are still working originals, and my hips don’t need replacing and my cash savings are earning me nothing.
There have been a few people who have addressed these issues far more eloquently than I can and I thought I would share some of their reflections for those of you that might want to consider getting out of town.
Tom Cole, from Geographic Expeditions, gives us four reasons why we should consider travel in these times:
First, if you are going to spend money, it might as well be to enrich yourself - and what better path to enrichment than travel.
Second, the return on investment is very high - memories of great trips are “brilliantly textured and rich, and they will warm us on a cold, dreary night. (And the older we get, the warmer those memories become). Many wonderful family conversations begin with “Remember the time we went to . . . . ”
Third, travel opens our hearts and our minds and draws us closer to our companions and the world at large. God knows we could all use some new perspective that puts our own personal experience in context. Remember the line from Casablanca ” It doesn’t take much to see that the problems of three little people don’t amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world. Someday you’ll understand that.”
Don George, reflecting on Cole’s piece on his blog, goes on to emphasize the global implications of continuing to travel - the countries and cultures and arts that rely so heavily on tourism and are so serverely disrupted when we travelers stay home! Our world grows increasingly smaller and we are all interconnected. “Travel is a fundamentally enriching and renewing activity. It is good for the mind and the soul and the heart. It is good for the people we meet, the societies we support, and the lessons we give and receive.”
Like Don, I am determined to keep traveling and urge you to do the same. So step off the merry-go-round and out onto the planet. Engage the world and you’ll be richer for it.