Drinking From The Ganges

I remember sitting in a 401k meeting in November 2007 (three months prior to leaving for my round the world trip).  The 401k meeting presented the usual information, “Invest more now, because you will need more later, Pay yourself first’ (all good advice).  However, during this particular 401k meeting, the 401k representative left a lasting impression on me or rather a lasting phrase.  The representative said several times (about five times) throughout the course of the hour long meeting, “I invest more now, because when I retire, I want to travel”.

This phrase has drifted in and out of my mind on several occasions throughout the course of my now five month journey.  In particular; when i was climbing to the top of Wayna Picchu, which included narrow, steep, arduous terrain, during my two-hour walk on the rocky train tracks to Aguas Calientes (town Machu Picchu is in), bungee jumping in Salta, Argentina, paragliding in La Cumbre, Argentina, riding camels for two hours in the Sahara Desert and while crawling in the dark cavernous, humid, oxygen less Pyramids in Giza (just to name a few).

During all these activities that require physical strength and mental abilities, the 401k representative phrase lingered through my mind……”I invest more now, because when I retire, I want to travel”.  And each time this phrase came to mind, I wanted to go back to that day in November 2007 (not really….) and say to the 401k representative, “Your future is not guaranteed, only the right here and now and the things you put off for retirement may not be an option for you at the ‘golden’ age of sixty-five (or whatever the official retirement age is right now), given certain factors and circumstances beyond your control, regardless of how much money you save during your years of working now to live later.”

To put it simply….I am glad I have taken this opportunity (and many others in the past), while I KNOW I am healthy and have no attachments, rather than wait for a future….a time and place where nothing is guaranteed….a time and place where I may have the money that I have saved years for, but may not have the option to exercise that money to travel with, because I may not have the mental or physical abilities….or I may be taking care of my significant other or taking care of an ailing child…..things that are unknown to me now and may be beyond my control at the given time.

And when i meet people along the way that say “I wish I could do what you are doing,”  I say you can, you have the same opportunities as me….you just have to want it and make it a priority, like all ’wants and desires we have in life”! 

In closing- I appreciate everyday of my journey……where the hardest part of my day or week, might be where should I go next, how long should I go for and how do I propose to get there!  Awwwww, such a hard life

**written from Mount Sinai, Egypt

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