A few days ago, my friend Joey called me. I hadn’t spoken or heard from him in two or three months.
“Hey Donna. I’m going to Mexico tomorrow. I just wanted say goodbye.”
“Random. For how long?” I said. Those types of phone calls keep me on my toes.
Joey briefly talked about a three-month backpacking trip. I didn’t ask many details and he didn’t give them.
“Well have fun.” I didn’t know what else to say.
At the onset of summer, I ran into Joey at an outdoor music festival in Oceanside, Calif. In a drunken stupor, he ranted about backpacking through foreign countries and invited me to “link arms and traverse new lands” with him. We haven’t seen each other since.
Daily, I talk with several people who seem to always have some sort of trip planned. They talk about wanting to do this and wanting to do that. Most of them never follow through; me included.
After we hung up, I started thinking about the possibility of a grand road excursion or backpacking trip for myself. My busy schedule is a tuna melt of work, school, and a slew of other tasks that I torture myself with.
How can I find the time to leave for a week, let alone three months?
I have friends who complain that they barely have time to sit down and eat a full meal. For them, eating is a multi-tasking situation. For a friend in the restaurant business, nourishment usually involves taking sporadic bites between serving tables.
Then I thought, if I save my money for a few months and use it to spend it on somewhere exotic instead of my usual trip New Jersey to visit my family, I could get something going.
Reality tells me that I never save my money. I don’t have the self-control and I don’t have the patience.
“The panic” surged through my veins. Joey can just pick up and go. I can’t. Not too long ago, he took a twelve-day road trip up and down the West Coast. I barely have time to think, let alone “bust a Joe and go.”
Feeling stuck like hardened chewing gum underneath a city picnic table, my panic transformed into claustrophobia.
Is it time to reassess my time and scheduling? Should I throw away my planner and minimize my workload? Yes. Will I do it? Only time will tell.
In time, a person can get used to anything. Whether that’s a good or a bad thing is still foggy to me. For now, I’ll just have to enjoy what I’ve got here in sunny San Diego.
