Today my family and I went to see a beautiful home for rent belonging to a husband and wife who are about to make a radical change in their lifestyle and plans. (Given the fact that we will probably not ever be able to own a home in the community where we currently live, we have been looking around at other parts of the city to see what it would cost to rent or even buy in other areas in close proximity to good schools for our kids.)
We're far from making the decision to move. However, we're meeting some very interesting folks in the process of looking around!
Lars and Renee (not their real names) are a successful couple in their 40s (well, they look like they're in their 40s!) who have recently decided to step back from their careers and spend time traveling the world together. They have no children and are not tied to any kind of schedule or routine. Spontaneously, they have decided to put their careers on hiatus and enroll in a Semester at Sea! Over the course of 104 days they will travel to 11 countries around the globe, including Brazil where they will enter the mouth of the Amazon River and travel to the port of Manaus.
During their time at sea they will travel to locations as diverse as South Africa, India, Vietnam, Japan and Hawaii. ( Wow!!!) They will also spend a great deal of time learning about the cultures that they will be interacting with, reflecting and meditating on what it means to be a global citizen, and learning through immersion. As the program website describes, "Students have the opportunities to learn through action, contemplation, reflection, and emotional engagement, as well as through acquisition of information."
I have always thought of Semester at Sea as being a kind of junior year study-abroad program facilitated mainly by colleges for young students. It never occurred to me that these programs would also be offered to alumni and also as "enrichment voyages" for adults.
What I love most about the fact that Lars and Renee are leaving everything behind for the next four months to hop on a boat and sail around the world, is the spirit with which they are doing it. They intend to leave behind all of the (extremely beautiful) material goods that they have accumulated for the benefit of whomever rents their home, so that they can "start fresh" when they return to California and really begin a new life together. They've been married for eleven years, and yet it seems like they are actively rebooting their life together and their marriage through adventure!
Most people I know cannot afford to quit their jobs and simply travel for a while... or at least, they would never believe it was possible. That being said, I do think that there are many ways to live and travel throughout Southeast Asia and even parts of Mexico that can be extremely economical - even for a family on a shoestring budget.
When I was young many of my friends would go with their families to Hawaii for vacations. Hawaii seemed to be the "it" vacation of my childhood, yet my own family never went there. After a while, the Hawaiian islands took on an almost mythical significance for me ~ these tantalizing tropical locales that I could only dream of and see in movies. Years later when I graduated from college, an old friend of mine and I actually did it - we saved our money and flew together to Maui where we hiked, swam and relaxed for ten days. Since it was an off season (March) I think we paid about $400 roundtrip each... it may even have been less. The islands themselves, which on a globe looked quite remote and unreachable, turned out to be a mere six hours away.
That trip changed my philosophy about spontaneous living. Letting go of my old mantra ("Maybe someday I'll get there...") I coined a shiny new belief -- "If you want something, make it happen. Hawaii is only a few hundred dollars and six hours away."
My brother must have figured this out a decade before I did, as he picked up and moved himself to Hawaii when he was just out of high school and 18 years old. Knowing only one person in Hawaii when he arrived, he got a job, found an apartment, made friends and surfed every day. He didn't let anything - including our parents - stand in his way from making a huge life change. Although he finally made his way back to our California town to settle down, I've always gotten the impression that he cherishes his memories of Hawaii and his experiences there.
So, the meaning of life today turns out to be, "It's all in your point of view". Whether you have financial resources or family obligations, anything is possible with the right mindset. Believe in yourself, make a plan, make it happen.
Bon Voyage, Lars and Renee! May your journey through the world be exciting and life-changing in the best of all possible ways. Thanks for reminding us to embrace adventure and spontaneity!
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