Travel, be free, and actually reach our dreams. These are our goals. They seen reachable, No? Well for the longest time I believed so. It seems however that these goals are so vast and with so many paths to reach them actually doing so is nearly impossible. So why the difficulty? Life and the pitfalls that are hidden in our path.
The religious on the path to some magical unicorn land upon death like to refer to these diversions as temptation and opportunities for good. On our more earthly plain I like to see these paths as options, the difficulty comes in determining which is advantages to my goals, and which is a detriment.
Take a recent opportunity to go to Washington state. I currently live in a state with a new reelected psychopathic governor whose primary goal to dismantle and destroy the one thing I love about this state, the pristine environment. The day following the election my wife emails me and says she has the opportunity for a transfer to Washington. On the surface it seems like a perfect escape…..then we look at the logistics and between the high rent, commute, taxes and ancillary expenses it would cost a LOT more to live there. Combined with an unsupportive family back home, a newly built house and responsibilities that need to be addressed the golden adventure seems like one more anchor preventing us from reaching our dreams.
The pitfalls do not always have to be a move, but also something as innocent as going back to school. Recently I was enrolled at the University of Maine in a forestry program. While I did enjoy the classes, the expensive tuition and the lack of opportunities following graduation would further eliminate any benefit gained. To make matters worse, the Umaine forestry program is majorly underfunded, has many pretentious faculty and while it was the foundation of the forest program at the school, it is overshadowed by the Forest resources program. Such a move to attend the MF program rather than the MS program actually set me back in my goals. Such moves need to be further thought out and seriously considered.
Finally, simple decisions such as what things to buy can effect what travel is done. 15 meals out can prevent a two-week trip to Bolivia. A simple car repair can be the cost of airfare to Germany. Every penny counts, so why not save them????
A few minutes prior to writing this piece I submitted an application for two years in the Peace Corp. Will it be a pitfall or an advantage. Will I be supported or discouraged, will it help or hurt….only time will tell.
