Simone is a devoted traveler. She works to play and is committed to inspiring people to travel, albeit their own community or some exotic place around the world.
A Trip of a Lifetime? No, a Lifetime of Trips!
A trip of a lifetime! How I hate that phrase. A coworker said it to me the other day after going on a safari in Africa for two weeks. “It was a trip of a lifetime,” she exclaimed to me after describe the elephants, antelope, lions and birds that she had seen. Yes, it was a trip of a lifetime for her and she's a traveler.
I heard this phrase again the other day from an acquaintance when I was explaining that I had just recently booked two weeks in Greece. She cooed, “Oh, you’ll have sooo much fun! It will be a trip of a lifetime.”
No, it won’t.
My trips of a lifetime are thte two trips to the hospital to birth my son and then again to have my daughter. These are trips that will not be repeated. Things that happen once or twice if you’re lucky in your lifetime. Travel; however, the trip of a lifetime people have talked about are not my trips of a lifetime. They are part of my lifetime trips.
A safari in Africa will be as much of a part of my life as my two weeks in Mykonos this September, France, Ireland, Spain, Hong Kong, China, Vietnam, Maylaysia-These are the trips of my life.
I’ve consciously decided to make travel a part of me, who I am and what I experience. My lifetime will be a series of trips of a lifetime. It wasn’t always this way and it’s wasn’t easy to implement. I had, it seemed, a lifetime of longing to see, to experience, to just get on a plane and go but there was never enough time, enough money, the kids were too young, all reasons for not going.
Until I had enough… I had to finally get to a point where you say, if I die tomorrow and this could be a real possibility, I will regret not traveling. This is important to me and I don’t want to miss it so I’m doing it now!
Granted, I understand that needed to be concessions. That’s fine. My concession is a lot of my trips are within the U.S. They are generally 3 to 4 day weekends. And, hoping on a plane after a full day’s work on Thursday and coming home tired Sunday night or even early Monday morning to go straight from the airport to work is not always fun but I’m doing what I want. I’m seeing the world and places I’ve always wanted to be along with taking some terrific photos, another passion of mine.
I have a bucketlist, listing all the places I want to visit. My bucketlist was originally a photo board on Pinterest. It’s now moved to an official three page, two-columned Word document. I usually pick two or three musts for the upcoming year and the am flexible with the rest looking for deals. My bucketlist includes local travel so that when I don’t have the time, money or I’m bored one weekend, I can go to my list and select something near without thinking a lot. I’ve also shared my bucketlist with anyone that will listen. They always have ideas or have gone places that end up getting added. My list will never be completely checked off and hey, that’s okay. I already have quite a bit done.
My friends often post on my Instagram account, “I wish I had your life, traveling all the time.” My response is, “You can.” There are many ways to travel. Don’t have enough money? You can travel cheaply, staying in hostels, pack your own food use coupons or find destination deals. No time? Do local trips. Try treating your home town like you’re a tourist. I can’t tell you how many times people say, “I live here but have never been there.” Have to bring the kids? Consider a road trips, local camping or even a day trip. There are endless opportunities. The world is awaiting…Are you coming? It could be a lifetime of trips…..
