When I first saw this little saying: “don’t catch feelings, catch flights”, I loved it! I don’t really know why, it just reasonated with me because it felt like freedom! Now, it’s my new motto!
I’ve already made it clear that this year would be about ME and what I wanted to do. I was leaving any and all distractions behind in 2015. And since I won’t be worrying about ALL of the things that consumed me last year, I’ll have time to get to the things that are most important to me….
But before we get to that, lets back up:
After I had my son at 20, and I looked at my friends around me who were still young, single and childless, I wondered if I had given up my freedom. Did I give up my opportunity to explore the world and live the careless life of a twenty-something year old kid? I did. The path that was laid out for me was definitely different. Not only was I a young mom, but I was a young, single mom. So, going off to Grad School, backpacking in Europe, being selfish, and wandering carelessly throughout the world was no longer an option for me. Don’t get me wrong, by no means do I regret becoming a mom so early in life; it gave me character and helped me grow as a person. But now that Jalen is older, self-sufficient and almost in his teens, I feel like it is my chance to seize the moment. It’s finally my turn! It’s my time to discover what is important to me! —And I’ll explain what that is soon. This is the perfect opportunity for me to travel as much as I want because financially, I’m doing pretty well and this is the ideal time to go exploring; while I’m still single, unmarried and before I decide to have more children and begin the process all over again. Jalen is at the perfect age where I can go on trips with or without him, because he is interested in exploring too, and he knows how to be a great companion.
The reasons I want to travel the world may seem trivial to some, but for me, it’s a big deal. It’s important for me to taste different foods, learn different languages, explore different histories, see different cultures, explore new art, feel different fabrics, experience a different type of poverty, learn a different type of lifestyle……build EXTRAORDINARY memories! And, being that my family is so multi-racial and all mixed up, it would be fun to explore the countries my ancestors came from.
Soooooooooo…….
Starting this year, and hopefully for the rest of my life, I will be striving to take AT LEAST 4 trips a year. They don’t have to always be something extravagant, especially to start. Maybe 2+ days minimum and at minimum 100 miles or more away….those are the qualifications. So far for 2016 I have 3 trips planned. First, I will be going back home this month for 5 days, in April I have taken time off (although I haven’t decided what to do with that week off yet) to either go on a cruise, out of the country or drive across country, and in October I will be doing an Eastern Shore excursion. This is including, but not limited to, a road trip to New York (hotel room is already booked!), Boston and wherever else my friends and I decide to go in between. Why? Because we CAN! And then hopefully I will expand my horizons to international places.
I just want to be spontaneous! I want to show my son that there is more to life than the humdrum norm. There is more to life than the same old daily routine. I want him to be well-cultured and very diverse, especially since he is already diverse in race. Showing him that it’s okay to be cultured and diverse starts with me. Plus, I want to fully LIVE! I’ve been surrounded by so much death lately that I want to live in the moment. And when I say live in he moment, I mean FULLY! None of that half ass shit. No planning adventures and never getting to it. I’ve done that too much in the past. As I started saying at the beginning of this post, I allowed him and her and them and me to block my blessings. But I’m to the point where I can save the feelings for him, her and them for another year. There’s always time to love, but a shorter time to live. So, while I’m busy catching flights and you’re busy catching feelings, I’ll grab you a few souvenirs along the way. #promise.
Follow my freedom journey! XOXO,
TJ