I Wish I Didn't Travel So Much

When I left NYC, I told all my clients that I would be traveling for an extended period of time. It got two types of responses.

Response 1: “That’s so exciting! I did something like that when I was younger, and it was the best decision I ever made.”

Response 2: “Wow, you have to do this... I never did, and I really regret it.”

Two completely different responses, all in support of the decision I made.

Now, why am I writing this post? Because my friends need to hear it.

Is this a subtweet at my friends? A sub-substack at my friends’? I don’t know what to call it, but yeah, kind of.

Because I’ve heard every excuse under the sun to not meet me somewhere in the world, and it’s exhausting.

Maybe you need to hear this message too, or maybe not.

But some of my friends REALLY need to hear this, and I hope they read it.

"One day I'll travel with my friends".

And then, one morning, you wake up, 84 years old, and you realize none of your friends are around anymore.

The trip you all talked about never left the group chat. It's been 50 years since you were all together last. Some moved away, and some moved on from this life.

And all you can think about is how you had the money, you just didn't want to spend it.

You had the time, you just "couldn't miss work".

You had the opportunity, but for some reason, you thought it could wait.

So if you're reading this and you still have your friends, be the one who makes it happen. Buy the flight. Travel with your friends. You can always make more money, but you can never make more time.

The excuses aren’t real.

“I don’t have enough PTO.” Okay, so you’re using all of it on other people’s weddings and none of it on your own life?

“I don’t have the money.” You have a car payment, a streaming subscription, and a tab you ran up last Saturday. You have the money. You’ve just decided to spend it on other things.

“I can’t because of the dog. The house. The girlfriend. The thing.” These are logistics. Logistics get solved. People board their dogs. People negotiate time off. People make it work when they actually want to make it work.

I know this because I’ve had some friends in all of these circumstances make it work, and some who still say the same excuse again and again.

I think what’s happening is travel feels irresponsible. Like you have to have it figured out before you travel. But the truth is, travel is where I go to figure it out.

I have seen more of this world in the last few years than most people see in a lifetime. And the thing I want more than almost anything is to share that with the people I love.

But I can’t want it more than they do.

That part’s on them.

So I’ll say this once and leave it here…I’m no expert, but I’m pretty sure we’ll never look back and say, “I wish I didn’t travel so much.”

-Paul Rabic