by Gadgetgeek » Fri 08 May, 2020 9:18 pm
Still trying to figure out that question myself. Personally, professionally. I've had opportunities that others would kill for, and yet they come with a pricetag I don't know I can pay. Time will tell, but it looks like I've managed to pick a second dying industry, so no joy there without a super-hero resume, and perfect health. Go back? And do what? Sure I could take over the farm but it can't support itself and I have no "remote work" skills. Even if I did, its so distant from anything thats anything that it wouldn't much matter. Glamorous dream that, but reality is hard and unrelenting.
I think that part of it must be divorcing from the expectations everyone else has. ie, the glamor of the career traveler, or the superstar adventure guide, or getting that "trip of a lifetime". And rather accept that there is something out there that other people would hate to be stuck with but I don't mind. Perhaps some of it is enjoying the anticipation for what it was, accepting that the planning and aspiration wasn't wasted and was in some ways a goal in and of itself. There is a difference between the guy who plans knowing full well that the door will never be opened and the first steps never taken, and being ready to go when circumstances make the decision for you. Yes there is disappointment, that goes almost without saying, but its only thus because the event had meaning. Perhaps another opportunity presents that is feasible, or perhaps not. But then again, nothing ventured and all that.
At some point there is a crest to this hill and I'll see what direction I need to go, but until then its the slow slog of one foot in front of the other until then. I suspect that over the next few years there will be many along the way who have thought maybe it easier to stop. I'm certain you can show them that even if it doesn't all work out, the walk will still have been worth it. Maybe time to stretch out into some of the adventures that are not as comfortable, if for nothing else than to find new dreams.