As most of you know, I have wanted to return to London for a long time. (Since September 2007 to be exact.)
At first I thought “I want to travel, but I can’t because…”, and listed various reasons in my mind, including the ones in my personal check list.
“I should pay off my debts first.”
“I have to get over my self-destructive addictions.”
“I must conquer my insomnia.”
“I need to be sure I won’t revert to any shopaholic behavior again.”
“I should sell and give away stuff I don’t need first. ”
“I have to visit my optician and dentist.”
Once I had taken care of those ‘obstacles’, I found other reasons why I couldn’t travel.
“I must finish some work projects before I can leave.”
“I’m not ready.”
“It’s too expensive.”
“I need more money/savings.”
“It doesn’t feel right.”
“It’s not the right time.”
Someone recently told me that there’s no such thing as the right time, that the only right time for anything is ‘now’ — and everything else is an excuse. That I would travel if I wanted to. I realized he was right. As long as I kept saying I wanted to travel and at the same time gave reasons to why I couldn’t, those reasons were merely excuses. If I really wanted to travel abroad now, I’d hop on the next flight — no matter what, despite the consequences. But I choose to put other things first.
I realized it’s not a question of ‘can’ or ‘can’t’. It’s about wanting. And clearly I don’t want to leave Sweden yet. Don’t get me wrong. I think about/miss London more or less every day. Yet, I want to live in Sweden for now. Or, more precisely, Gothenburg. I still plan to travel to London, although I don’t want to move right now. And when we say we don’t want to do something, that’s not an excuse.
Not too long ago, I said to someone living in London, “If you knew everything about my current situation, I think you’d understand why I don’t want to travel now.” But it wasn’t just about the situation I was in at the time; my intuition told me to stay in Sweden. And I need to listen to it, because I truly believe it will serve my best purposes. Like Bill Gates once said, “Often you have to rely on intuition.”
If I don’t know whether to turn left or right, I pay attention to my intuition. So far, the worst thing that has happened when I didn’t listen to it involves a broken collarbone and several nights in a hospital. Since then I decided to not ignore it — irrespective of what it tells me to do. And in October, my intuition told me to move from Halmstad to Gothenburg. (More about that in another post.)
How about you? Have you ever made (or are you making) excuses not to travel?
Possibly related posts:
Vi | Travel Tips
4 months ago
My excuse usually is “Don’t have enough money”, but some things are costly like scuba diving or swimming with whales, can’t just sit on the beach and do nothing
Vi | Travel Tips´s last blog ..How to save on buying travel guides in Australia and New Zealand
Erica Johansson
4 months ago
I bet “don’t have enough money/can’t afford it” is one of the most common excuses. And yes, activities like scuba diving can be costly and sitting on the beach all day is definitely not everyone’s idea of a successful vacation
But as long as we don’t let a (temporary) lack of money stop us from doing something, when we attempt to figure out how we can eventually make it rather than sit back, do nothing, and complain that we can’t do something, then it’s no problem!
Vi @ Travel Tips
3 months ago
There is other thing – most people if don’t like travel, afraid to say that straight and that is where so many excuses come from.
Vi @ Travel Tips´s last blog ..Whale watching Sydney: 2009 season whale sightings update
Erica Johansson
3 months ago
Interesting. I’ve never thought about that before.
Monica
4 months ago
I think rationality gets in the way of me not traveling as much as I want to. Working a 9-7 keeps me from it as well. So does saving up for grad school. It would be idea if I found a job that I was passionate in and that involved moderate travel as well. Any advice?
Erica Johansson
4 months ago
A job involving some kind of travel? First, let me just ask, do you want a new job in NYC, or are you open to moving to other cities as well? And would you prefer something within the area of advertising and marketing communications, or can you consider a job in other fields?
If you’d like some inspiration, here’s an article on 67 travel friendly jobs to consider http://almostfearless.com/2009/09/28/67-travel-friendly-jobs-to-consider-day-20-of-30d30w/
By the way, on your blog, you write that you’re an aspiring travel writer. Have you ever considered writing travel articles from New York? As a start, you could write about things nearby where you live, pitch different websites and magazines to build up a small portfolio of clips. Since you grew up in NYC I bet you have more knowledge of the city than the average New Yorker.
I don’t know whether you prefer to travel in the U.S., South America, or overseas but, in any case, if working as a travel writer is your dream job, I think starting out in NYC plus writing about past trips like you do on your blog is the best choice. I can recommend joining http://matadortravel.com/ – a great community for aspiring travel writers.