If You Could Only Take One More Trip
In these uncertain times, while we are all trying to stay safe in a CoVid-19 world, we dream and plan for getting back to normal. We want to get back to work, back to socializing, and yes, back to travel.
The allure of travel remains.
Before all these crazy days, I often would consult with a client about ‘where to go next.’ Sometimes, they’d be very uncertain – they didn’t care where, necessarily, they just wanted to go – somewhere, anywhere. I’d take the time to get to know them, learn how and where they’d traveled in the past – what they enjoyed or didn’t, learn who would be traveling and whether there were any special occasions to celebrate, learn how they liked to spend their days when they were on holiday, and, the most important thing perhaps, learn what memories they wanted to bring back home.
You see, if you start with the end in mind – what memories do you want to bring back home – it helps crystallize the mind.
And once we start talking like that, the big bucket list trips come to mind. Again, sometimes it’s difficult to narrow down a long list of where you’d like to go. But, I often share some lessons I’ve learned in working with thousands of clients over the years. If you have a hard time picking where next, what if something happened over the next year – what if, god forbid, you got ill or a family member was no longer able to travel. What if you could only take one more trip? What if your next trip is your last trip? What’s the one place in the world you would like to go? How would you like to travel there? Who would you like to travel with?
Pre-CoVid-19, I would tell my clients to “Take the Trip Now” and “Take the Big Trip First.” I would remember my mother-in-law, Avis, who kept postponing taking the Rocky Mountaineer train she’d wanted to do all her life. I couldn’t get her to take the trip with my husband (her son) while her own husband (my father-in-law) was ill. She waited. Unfortunately, she soon got ill, and then was unable to travel. None of us know how much, or what quality, of life is ahead of us. So, travel as soon as you’re able, and go where you most want to go first.
As we live through the uncertainty in a CoVid-19 world, those words seem truer than ever. There’s nothing like being in self-isolation and not able to travel right now that tends to focus the mind. And if you’re a fan of Stephen Covey and his “Seven Habits of Highly Successful People,” he would tell you to do the important things first. Not the urgent ones. (You can ignore the urgent ringing phone to spend more important time with your kids.) Focus on the important things.
Or – as this video demonstration of Stephen Covey’s method shows, put the big rocks in first.
We all will have pent up travel desires after we get through this (and we will get through this – hopefully sooner rather than later.)
Put the big rocks in first.
Take the big trips first.
Assume you will only have one more big trip – what trip would that be for you? Would you like to do the Rocky Mountaineer train through the Canadian Rockies? How about walk on Antarctica? Maybe snorkel on the Great Barrier Reef? Take photos of the Blue Footed Boobies in the Galapagos Islands? See Machu Picchu? Take a safari with your family in Botswana? See the gorillas in Uganda? What is your dream trip? What is your big rock?
Contact me if you’d like to arrange for a zoom or phone consult – we can do some planning for you and your family!
613-837-0699