A Bit of A Quandary

I was born and raised in the Northeast, and had moved down to Texas a few years ago for work. This move has brought upon some new challenges and opportunities, and for the last few years since I've been here, I've had no regrets making this move. I've made some great friends, and availed myself of some wonderful opportunities I wouldn't have had if I'd stayed where I was. 

That having been said, there's a question I'm asked often:"When are you coming back home to visit?"

In the first few years I lived here, I made regular trips back up there to visit family and friends, and enjoyed them. However, the trips were all very similar. I'd make plans with quite a few people, and many of them would fall through when I got there since, well, life happens, and I understand and respect that. I also found myself doing much of the same things with the same people, which is great and all, but it still leaves me with wanting for more. In 2018, I didn't travel up there at all, so I may be due for a visit.

This got me thinking, though; why is it that very few have actually made the trip down here to see me?  Why did I always have to be the one to do the traveling?

It was different when I lived up there; I could jump in the car and for a few bucks, the price of a gallon or two of gas, visit just about anyone and everyone I'd want to see that I knew there. Things are a bit different now since traveling up there involves time off work, a few plane tickets, a rental car, and hotel room.

I know what some of you may be thinking: "Why do you need a rental car or hotel room? Stay with family, they'll drive you around or get you where you need to go. There's also Uber and Lyft..." 

If you thought that, you're not wrong, but I value my independence very highly. I like having my own space to go to at the end of the night.  As much as I genuinely appreciate offers to stay with friends and family, being able to completely disconnect helps me regroup at the end of the day. I'm also used to it since I live alone anyway.  Even if I didn't stay in a hotel and have a rental car, the airfare alone isn't cheap either, sadly. Traveling up to see family and friends is always nice, but the fact that I rarely get any requests from them to visit me makes me wonder if that's as worthwhile of a trip. I'm not saying anything bad about my family and friends, trust me, I love them all. But, I can't help but think that if they don't seem to want to come to visit me, why might I make the effort to visit them? I'd rather spend my hard-earned money and time off having new experiences and seeing new places, or places I don't get to visit often, to make new memories, as opposed to going someplace "just because."

Another question is asked about my traveling: "Why do you take so many cruises?"The simple answer, is that it's the most relaxing and rejuvenating form of vacation for me; it's how I best recharge. Also, no two cruises are exactly the same. Ships are different, ports visited are different,  the people on board are different, etc. Even on trips where we visit the same ports I've been to (Nassau Bahamas, Cozumel Mexico, etc.) I always find new things to try and to experience each time I go there.

Cruising also gives me little tastes of places I may not have thought to visit before, so if I want to spend more time someplace, I can do so on a land vacation some time in the future.

So what's the bottom line? Why write this post? What's the quandary I find myself in? Well, since starting a new job my available vacation time has been effectively reset to zero. I've been racking up vacation hours, and my brain suffering from a bad case of wanderlust is pulling me in so many different directions. I am absolutely dying to travel. I haven't set foot on a plane yet in 2019, and it's already July!!! I have a cruise booked in December, but as of this writing that's just less than 6 months away.  I have just enough time off accrued to cover my trip in December,  but need to do some kind of trip before then.

Where should I go, what should I do?  Post a comment below with your suggestions. I'm working on another post about some ambitious travel ideas I have on my "list" - so stay tuned for that one.