Someone just told me we were "blessed" for being able to go to Antarctica and Ireland in the same year. I hate hearing that.
She's partly right, of course; I know there are a lot of people who could not take trips like that because of circumstances they had no part in choosing or that they could not have anticipated when making choises: illness/ infirmity, layoffs (though I was laid off two years ago and it only postponed our trip) or other factors.
That said, I got to make the trips mostly because of choices we made. We don't have kids to support or scrimp college tuition for. That's a choice, and one we made at least partly so that we'd have freedom to do what we want. I could have bought all of the highest priority items on my To-buy list with the trip money. Of course, some of that is camera gear and without our travels I wouldn't have much to use it on. If I were a better person I could have funded a large chunk of a semester's tuition at the local university for someone else who couldn't afford it. I chose to broaden my own mind by travel instead.
I don't think we're rich, but statistics say we're doing pretty well. But I know plenty of people who make less than we do, some who were on our latest trip, who make travel their priority. They're not so much blessed as determined. Quite a few people who work for Rudder (and ake less money than he does) live in houses much nicer than ours; we just elect to be able to leave our house frequently instead.
So yeah, I guess I am "blessed": I have the health to be able to take this trip and the education that lets me make choices that enable me to earn the money for it. I didn't get hit by a car the week before we left, my husband didn't leave me, my company didn't lay me off, the U.S. didn't decide to invade the penguins. But give me some credit too.
P.S. to Zen: Feels good, huh? Now you need to find a sport so you have something to train for.
Posted by dichroic at January 15, 2004 12:34 PM