it’s hard to escape “the man” :)
Thursday, November 29th, 2007the relaxing weeks i’d hoped for before my departure have been rather more consumed by paperwork than hiking our bay area’s lovely trails. i had no idea how many mundane tasks there would be: health insurance, 401k moves, stock option arrangements, pre-paid taxes/extensions and suspending various utilities – to name but a few. none of it as simple as it should be. life in america doesn’t easily accommodate those “of working age” who do not work. yet it is possible with some doing and i can’t say i aspire to be part of a system at the other end of the spectrum – one that makes it too easy for those who do not work and creates a burden for those who do.
i suppose the fact that i am an obsessive “minimalist” packer doesn’t help. i look at every item and think “can i get one that is smaller and lighter?”. i am sure this impulse will serve me well in the coming months, but for now it has me surfing the net more than i should. and ladies, toiletries do us in! then i remember the packer’s adage “if they are living without it where you are going, you too will survive without it”. it’s all a matter of adapting.
this is a good segue to a heretofore undiscussed topic. one primary objective when i travel is to exercise my mental flexibility. i’ve observed that people, as they get older, become less able to deal with unanticipated events. they become creatures of habit, and because they fear encountering the unknown they restrict the likelihood that they encounter that unknown. their world shrinks and it is inevitable that their mind becomes narrower, smaller and less agile. travel of this sort is part of my vaccination against this.
i am 40 today (woohoo!) and i believe that curiosity, adaptability, patience and passion/compassion can go along way to keeping one young – not just a physical challenge, but a mental one. and a far better one than playing “brain age” on your PSP in my opinion. happy birthday to me!!!
Peggy Rehm