Travel Is Not My Why

If you ask a swath of people in the financial independence community, a large percentage will list travel as one of the top three reasons they are pursuing financial freedom. I have described in the past about how I refuse to break the seal with travel hacking. Argue the sanity of my argument as you may, my money saving tendencies have not pushed me to experiment. This realization has opened my eyes to something that should be intuitive but is not. It’s time I stopped pretending and gave up on being like all the cool kids on the block. No matter how much I try to pretend, travel is not my why.

It never has been. It’s not that I don’t like to explore new places, but it just doesn’t light me up. In fact, it down right tires me out sometimes. So what does light me up?

Ideas, Thoughts, Projects

I am not a thing person. I have very little interest in material objects. Likewise, I am not much of an experience person. I don’t thrive on future events. In general, I spend most of my time on ideas. I live in the realm of thoughts, theories, and exploration.

I love projects. Whether it be a blog, a book, or a podcast. The dual ideas of creation and communication are what make me wake up early every morning. They are an itch that I long to scratch.

Travel is not my why. Partially because it gets in the way of these things. My thoughts, instead of filled with imagination and ideas, get bogged down with concerns about details.

*How am I going to get to the hotel? What bus do we need to take to make it to the museum? Will the plane be on time? *

All projects get put temporarily on hold. It is harder to write blog posts.

Routine and Habit

The older I get, the more I enjoy routine and habit. I guess I have become more rigid in my old age. Whether this limits my life or not, it is true. There is no use trying to deny it.

Travel is not my why because I tend to sleep poorly. I never get used to pillows and mattresses when I am out of town. I almost universally eat poorly. Not just junk food, but often heavy cuisine that doesn’t always agree with my stomach.

Work out routines go to hell. It is hard to maintain a schedule when everyday is different, and access to facilities is limited.

I often come home from vacations feeling exhausted and out of shape.

Reverse FOMO

Everything always happens when I am out of town. I miss out on all those meetings I wanted to be a part of. Some big event occurs at my half retirement job and I don’t get to be a part of it. Special people come in town and I miss them.

Don’t let me even get started on the post vacation hang over. I’m not talking about alcohol here. Returning from a trip is always a big headache. The mail is piled up in the front doorway. Meetings are clustered upon returning to make up for everything that was put off while I was gone.

And mostly the whole family is bone tired.

Final Thoughts

Although I will continue to take a few trips a year, travel is not my why and never will be. I enjoy going to new places and seeing new things. But that joy pales in comparison to the contentedness I feel when free to explore new ideas and projects unhindered by unfamiliar surroundings.

I also am much happier when ensconced in my familiar routines and habits.

Call me boring. I don’t mind.