When Did That Happen?

It’s always tough saying good bye to friends and family. The older I get the harder it seems to. I have developed an aversion to airports as I associate them with trauma.  Well not all airports, just Perth International airport really. Plum and I had to laugh as we compared how different we were in many ways to when we both went travelling the first time.

It was ten years ago for me and eight for Plum. The lead up to this trip had been extensive. We had to sell cars, pack up houses, organise three different visas, set up bank accounts in foreign countries and work full time jobs during it all, plus still run a household.  We wondered if we would have enough money, if we would be safe and if we were crazy for doing this. Ten years ago, all I had to do was get a passport and pack my bags (which I did the day I was leaving). It never occurred to me I might not have enough money, I never doubted my safety and I thought I was crazy for not doing it earlier. Plum even laughed at how he was hung over the day he left.

I don’t classify myself as being old in any way (I was even asked ID today) but somehow I long for that innocence and naivety of youth. The self-assuredness to never question anything and to just fly by the seat of your pants without thinking if the pants are the right pants to use for said flying, or if the pants are insured if they are lost or stolen in flight transit.

Some may say that innocence and naivety are replaced by wisdom and the realisation of something called responsibility. All of a sudden you are accountable for things like mortgages which force you to be reliant on a wage, in a job that doesn’t fulfil you.  What then happens when you start having kids? These are the things that we have to answer to, the things we have on our backs. For whatever reason, it seems like we seek these, it is how you get ahead in life. How quickly they weigh you down or confine you to place you created and can’t seem to escape. Maybe we have it all wrong? It was such a liberating feeling to remove these and replace them with a back pack. Just Plum and I, a couple of bags and a world of possibility.

I may not be as reckless and care free as I once was, it may have taken more to get here and the stakes are higher but the reward is greater and I appreciate and relish it ten times over. We are kicking back and enjoying the ride albeit with extensive travel insurance, cash behind us and a better matured sense of savvy. Maybe I am getting wiser?