I’ve finally have a free minute to update this post and wanted to thank Lucky and Angelina at Boarding Area for their posts and reflect on what taking risks means for different people and at different times in their lives.
Then I read this obituary about a 35 year old named Evan Bliss who died, of all things, deep vein thrombosis caused by long-distance plane travel.
I’m sure “The Deal Mommy” isn’t where you come for deep thoughts, but please indulge me. Both Angelina and Lucky are in their 20s and my posts resonated through traveling impulsively for Angelina and a long distance move for Lucky. Angelina’s post has some great specific tips about what you can do to make sure you have the points and miles to take advantage of a great last minute offer.
However, I think this “carpe diem” message is even more important when life intervenes and makes seizing harder than it is in your free-wheeling 20s. The Wall Street Journal featured a great article from Katy McLaughlin about how the sudden death of a cousin caused her family to re-examine just what exactly what they were saving for. I highly recommend this piece as I could relate exactly to what she said about how her old dreams of traveling the world didn’t quite fit anymore. Upon reflection new dreams, like taking her kids to South America to practice Spanish, came into focus. Considering we did the same in Guatemala last year the Deal Kids, I can relate.
So here’s my question: how have your dreams (travel and otherwise) changed since you have had kids? What have you done to seize today for yourself, while incorporating the needs of your family?
Here’s the original post for context:
Lucky at One Mile at A Time has a thought provoking post today about taking risks. He’s 22 and at that “should I leave my hometown” crossroads we all faced at one point. You can see my immediate reaction in the comments, but I wanted to expand his question to including making the choice to take any risk.
In the 10 months my blog has been live, I’ve met (literally and virtually) many great people, and because my content varies from travel deals to parenting stuff (with a little Village People in between) the people this blog reaches vary from 22 year olds like Lucky to Moms who just like good deals, to Grandmas who may be ready to spread their wings a bit. I’d be curious to hear your “risk taking” dilemmas, but here’s are the three I hear most often:
- “I can’t afford to travel”,
- “I’ll just go where we always go because it’s too expensive to fly anywhere”
- “I can’t decide about that now”.
I’ve addressed these and others one by one in this post, but here’s my bottom line answer:
There will never be another 22. That’s what I told Lucky, and that’s what I’m telling you. But here’s the thing…it’s not just true at 22. It’s true at every age. Waiting to (travel, move, change jobs, etc. etc. ) until (we have more money, the kids are older, etc. etc. etc.) means leaving opportunities behind. We all have limits…money when we are younger, kids (and still money) when we are parenting, then possibly health (and still money!) when we are older.
The decisions you make today shape who you will be tomorrow…and who your kids will be the day after. The Deal Kids accept a lot of idiosyncrasies about their Deal Mommy. Deal Kid actually rolled his eyes when I told him about our last minute Montreal trip and don’t get the kids started about the pallet buying phase where 1000 lbs of groceries would show up on our front stoop! But the one thing I’m most proud of is that they’ve seen their Mom take risks…and sometimes fail, then take more risks!
Rush, in their song Freewill
In short, I’m challenging you to stretch your limits and just consider the possibilities before rejecting a seemingly crazy idea out of hand. Who’s with me?