Followtravel + disappointments = should NEVER be paired together
ok. let’s talk about regrets. i’ll tell you this, i do have a few in my life but they really don’t have much to do with travel. when Anita from traveldestinationbucketlist tagged me to write this i had to think quite a bit to come up with 3 travel disappointments. bottom line, now i’m making up for lost time and feel sure i will not have any travel regrets in my later life.
UN
i regret not studying a semester or year abroad in college. you know, when life was easy and you really didn’t have many obligations or commitments. that is the absolute RIGHT time to travel abroad. or even just to travel within your own country. if someone, anyone, ever asked me my advice this would be one of my tips. why didn’t i study abroad? i’m not really sure. the opportunity was never presented to me and it wasn’t something i really even considered. such a shame. i mean i am not one to shy away from finding opportunities and going for them. after all, i went to school out-of-state, much to the dismay of my parents and their pocketbook. then, post college, i moved to NYC with a one way ticket, no place to live and no firm job. so, you see, had traveling abroad really occurred to me, i’m sure i would have done it. i regret not thinking bigger than my borders. BUT, i think it’s ok, i’m doing a fine job of that now!
DEUX
once i got settled in NYC and got myself a place to live and a real job, i moved into the comfortable ‘grid life’ that people fall victim to in NYC and otherwise. after a period of time, FINALLY it occurred to me that maybe traveling was a good idea. don’t get me wrong, i’d traveled all my life. road trips in the deep south and florida. ski trips out west, seeing the natural beauty of the southwest. none of this is a regret whatsoever. anyhow, i digress. SO i took a chance, packed my belongings in storage in NYC and set off to do Europe on my own. completely FANTASTIC! but what happened when i returned to the US? well, after a couple more quick trips overseas, i sunk back into a life of complacency. i regret this. i regret getting too comfortable. i regret taking an unintentional travel hiatus. AGAIN, if anyone asked me, i would say if traveling is important to you keep it in your life. i’m so glad it’s back in mine. it’s my lifeline. nothing makes me feel more alive than being out in the world exploring.
TROIS
now this regret is one i still actually cope with today. not speaking any foreign languages. AND i do find it a bit embarrassing. not that i’m really doing anything about it. sadly, you really don’t have to. practically everywhere i’ve been people speak English and that makes it so easy to be lazy. i even find it more fascinating that people often apologize to me for their level of spoken English. as if there’s anything to say sorry for. my goodness, almost everyone i’ve encountered on the road knows more English than i do of their native tongue. i think the best way to change this is to move to another country and get fully immersed. i hope that this isn’t going to be another travel regret to add to the list someday.
how about you? do you have any major travel regrets?
merci, Anita for tagging me. i’m curious to hear what Erin from The World Wanderer and Pola from Jetting Around have to say about their travel disappointments.
Your #1 disappointment has to be: You haven’t met me!!!!! LOL
I totally have regret un and trois too. Though not deux b/c my job has included so much travel! I did look into going abroad in the french program, since I had studied french for mamy years. I would have had to take summer classes to have the right pre-recs, and I could not afford that. So I stopped. Why did it not occur to me to go to England???
I regret that foreign language deal too. Actually I regret not studying more since I did a study abroad in Costa Rica. Huge regret!
Leah Travels recently posted…At Verbier St-Bernard, My Swiss Dreams Come True
Love those reflections. I share the first one with you. Being a pre-Internet student, it was just harder to learn of opportunities and of what it took to do these. Also, I was always afraid of not having money to do the trips and getting a loan I maybe wouldn’t be able to repair (so young and foolish!!). But I have done well on the other two, no crees?
Raul (@ilivetotravel in Twitter) recently posted…Preparing to Hike Mt. Kilimanjaro: More than Training & Gear
I’m the same with you on trois. I took French in high school and never made an attempt to retain it. I should have taken Spanish. LOL. I’d love to pick up Italian and Japanese one day.
Kieu ~ GQ trippin recently posted…Our Worst in Food
Can’t wait to get started on this! Thanks for the tag! I actually share two of these with you – not studying abroad and not knowing a foreign language. We can at least make up for lost time, and start learning a language at least! xx
Erin Marie recently posted…Music Monday: We Are The Tide.
At least your still a young lass and have plenty of time to work on these three.
Awww, this one was a sweet post… I always tell Americans that if each state had a different official language, you’d learn some of them. But English being so global, I cut you people some slack. 🙂 But in my experience learning and being able to speak a foreign language can be fun, and that’s what I like about it.
I’m glad I got to learn something new about Lola. 🙂 xx
Pola (@jettingaround) recently posted…Photo of the Week: St. Peter’s Square, Vatican City
I’m with you on the foreign language thing. Really wish I spoke another one. Keep thinking of getting a Rosetta Stone one of these days, but I have my doubts on how well it will actually work.
Gina recently posted…Monkey Wizard Brewery in Riwaka, New Zealand
I do agree about languages…I’m so thankful to have been immersed in them from the get go, but there’s so much time. Practice French with me! And have you tried Rosetta Stone? 🙂
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