Fernweh – An ache for
distant places; the craving for travel.
David is a dreamer...
He’s forever showing me photos of amazing waterfalls,
incredible mountain ranges, in far off countries. He is desperate to go
travelling, and he wants to do it spontaneously, with little to no planning
involved, he just wants to leave and see where we end up. He’s not even fussed
about having enough money, convinced that we would be able to find work, or be
able to walk everywhere and set up tents at night, and “live off the land”.
I would love to be a spontaneous person like that. I would
love to be that person who can just get up and leave, with no worries about
plans falling through, or not having enough money, or not being able to find
somewhere to stay.
But I'm not that person.
I want to go travelling. I want to have incredible, life
changing adventures, I want to see the world & all it has to offer. I want
to go to the beautiful, remote places that are untouched by tourism &
experience all of Gods glorious creation, without the orange glow of city
lights staining the starry night sky. I want to go to the huge,
sprawling cities that are like concrete jungles in themselves & explore
their endless mazes of streets. I want to see the fury of the sea during a storm, the
deadly isolation of the desert, feel the calming silence of a dense forest
& the might of towering, snow-covered mountains.
I want to see it all!
But I also need to have a plan.
I’m not a massive control freak. I don’t have an incessant
need to have every single little detail planned to absolute perfection…But I do
need to have some idea of a plan. I need to know I have enough money saved up,
that we have somewhere lined up to stay, that we have at least a vague idea of
what we want to do, or go, or see next.
All over Pinterest I see thousands of inspirational quotes
about travel, the vast majority of which say: “Just go!”, “Don’t worry about
the money, just make it work!” and on and on. I love looking through
Pinterest as much as the next self-confessed procrastinator, but a lot of the
time these travel boards make me feel a bit, I dunno, inadequate? I'm not even sure if that's the word I'm looking for!
Am I the only one who
gets a bit anxious at the thought of just going, of not caring about the money?
The anxious feeling doesn't just come from not having enough money, it's not really about the money at all. It's about that fear of being stranded in a foreign country, with no income or way home. It's about the fear of not having the means to look after ourselves, or feed ourselves, or have somewhere safe to stay at night. To me, it just doesn't seem practical to risk things like this happening. Doesn't it make more sense to save, and know that you have enough to get by?
Fernweh – An ache for
distant places; the craving for travel.
I am longing to go travelling, to fill up my life with incredible experiences, & stories, & adventures.
When I think about those Vague Plans I mentioned in my last post, I get so, so excited that it might actually happen, that we might actually get do something amazing!
But at the same time, I know that I'm going to have to be the sensible one out of the 2 of us, the practical one. The one who insists that we save up before doing anything, the one who isn't reckless with the opportunities that we may face.
Which is all actually a bit absurd, really. I am the absolute worst person at saving money!!
