Go West, young (wo)man

The road less taken.  No regrets.

When I graduated from high school, my father asked if I wanted to take a gap year.  Silly Dad, I said, I'm American.  Americans don't take gap years, and besides, I've already received scholarships for next year.  I can't defer them!

When I was in college, Dad asked if I wanted to go abroad.  Dad, I said, I can't.  I switched majors, and now I won't finish my requirements in time if I go study in France/Egypt/the UK.

And when I was ensnarled in an office job in DC, but on vacation with my parents, my American father offered this previously unknown story about his own gap year:

"A bunch of us Americans were in similar programs in London, and we decided to hire a van and go to Istanbul."  

Really?  That's quite adventurous in the pre-EU days.

"Well, you see, we all had two weeks off at the same time.  The van wasn't very well kept, though, and the driver was what you would call sketchy."

What do you mean, Dad?

"We're pretty sure he was smuggling."

Say what?! 



That story probably would have gotten me on the road back when I was eighteen. (Way to bury the lede by ten years, Dad...)  It might even have launched me into an entirely different first career, one where I spent less time behind a desk and more time exploring.  Doors are opening now, though, and it's time to take advantage of my new opportunities.

Yesterday, I ran across this article on Facebook, about why one should travel when young.  Jeff Goins is speaking directly to me at eighteen, and in a way that might be more appropriate than a story about smuggling booze across the Iron Curtain.  More importantly, he's supporting my choice at thirty to jump ship and strike out on my own.

"What choices will you regret making?  Holding back.  Being afraid.  Making excuses.  Not taking more risks.  Waiting."

I've regretted a lot, but I've never regretted throwing clothes and a book in a backpack and hopping on a plane without much of a plan.  I feel my most alive when I am sorting out timetables on a German train platform, or bartering for a boat ride on a Thai beach, or buying a bunch of colored, knock-off sunglasses on a San Francisco wharf for an impromptu photo shoot with friends.

Here, then, an ageless mantra to carry forth:

"So, young person, travel.  Travel wide and far.  Travel boldly.  Travel with full abandon."

I'm done with being chained down by regrets.  It's time to fly!

(Hat tip to to my sorority sister Jen, who I last saw at a nightclub in Barcelona.)