The Right Time To Travel: Why Now? Why Not?

Whenever I'm preparing to go on a trip or talk about some place I've been, I encounter someone who regards me with envy. "Oh, I wish I could do that" or "Wow, you're so lucky." "Then do it," I tell them. "If you really want to, you'll find a way how." More often than not, that person will have some excuse ready for why now isn't a good time. He or she is waiting for retirement. He's busy at work. Doesn't have enough money. I had one co-worker at my last job who made a good salary, had been working at the office for years so she had plenty saved up, and didn't have children. Yet she never went anywhere. She was always interested in hearing about my travels and I frequently urged her to go on her own journey ... and it never happened. When I brought her back a little magnet from Santorini, she eyed it wistfully and said with a sigh, "This is the closest I'm ever going to get to Greece." There was really nothing holding her back, though, and I don't understand what she was/is waiting for. I really hope that she does plan that trip sometime soon. In our case, Jon and I are both busy with work, but have managed to find a balance between our jobs and travel. We like our jobs and like having roots in New York City so we only plan trips that are a few weeks long at most. But for now, at least, we figure that it's better than nothing. It's at least a taste of the world. A few years ago, we took an almost impromptu trip to Ireland. We were only there for a few days and my parents, who are retired, wondered why we were bothering if we couldn't spend more time. Why not? was my answer. We were getting to see Ireland which was better than not seeing it. What were we supposed to do, wait until our retirement? I'm 38 and Jon is 40 so we're both still fairly young. We don't want to wait that long. We want to see the world now! We also like our lives in New York, but hey, we want it all. So we've found a way to incorporate shorter trips into our schedule. Who knows what kind of shape we'll be in when we're older or even HOW long we'll live? I believe that with most things, you can find a way to make your dreams come true. For us, it's having jobs we like, being close to our families AND traveling. We do our best to make all of this happen for us. You can, too. There's no RIGHT way or time to travel. So if you want to do it now, there's no sense in putting it off. Find a way. Make it happen. You won't be sorry.