posted by Travel Cat on Mar 11
Last year, I set myself a goal of visiting somewhere new (or somewhere I loved) every month. So far, I have done this without exception and it really has made a difference in more ways than one.
Firstly, it involves me with friends or family throughout the year - always meeting up with someone I can spend quality time with rather than just meeting them after work, or whenever they can squeeze me in. I find that actually making a ‘date’ of it makes sure that it happens, rather than it getting put off for a week or two. I find so many things do in this fast paced world we live in.
Secondly, I find that by planning a trip or visit every month means that I have less time left to fit in all the other things that need doing, but that I used to put off. When you start to see your diary filling up with things, you realise that you should ‘really get that car booked in for a service’ this week, otherwise you won’t get a chance until next month and that’s to close to your holiday to risk leaving it. Or you should ‘really ring up your friend for a visit’ otherwise you won’t be able to squeeze in seeing her again until after she’s had her baby or moved home, etc.
It doesn’t matter what your previous excuses were, they don’t cut it anymore when your time is restricted - and you could actually start to enjoy planning things. I found that I stated to plan WAY ahead, looking at 6 months down the line to make sure everything was still going to fit in. It’s fun being busy!!
Thirdly, I have now found time for a long awaited interest - photography. As I’m always off to different places and seeing different landscapes and wildlife - as well as children growing up - I have found myself recording these moments in digital. For the first time since I installed it on my laptop, I am actually using the ‘free’ software it came with - creating cropped landscapes of my snaps to put together slide-shows on blank discs for people. I find myself spotting what would make a great picture and have found out what all the buttons on my camera do that I just used to ignore!
Fourthly - and finally for this Soap Box, although I could go on - it has made me realise that there is more to life than just making money.
All my friends have heard the story: take time out of the get up/work/get home/sleep routine for just one day a month for something new, something different, or just some time on your own where you don’t have to worry about anything! What’s the point of working so hard that you actually miss your life - it just passes right by you at your desk, or till, or wherever you work.
On my rushed lunch breaks, I used to see people sitting there, just chatting away at a table and wondered how that happened - where did they find the time. But of course the time was always there for me to do that, but I was so wrapped up in working that I couldn’t see those times. Now I can.
I used to hear myself say ‘where did that last year go? I never got round to doing so-and-so’, now I hear myself saying ‘has it only been 7 weeks since Christmas! I can’t believe I’ve fitted so much in!’
See my other post for Skiing in the Cairngorms for details of my January 2008 experience, and watch out for my later posts coming up for a vacation in the Caribbean and another to Costa Rica in April, also my flying lesson in May and………..
Leave a Reply