“You are so lucky to be able to travel that much!”
“You are so lucky to have visited Fiji!”
“You are so lucky to have gone to the Rugby World Cup!”
With my latest trip to Antarctica the “lucky” cries have grown even louder.
I understand that no one intends to be disrespectful when they say I’m lucky, but I want to make it clear that luck has nothing to do with it.
Luck implies some sort of random chance. Luck implies circumstances outside of my control.
Everything I’ve done I did because I wanted to do it. I made a conscious effort to travel around the world. I made hard decisions about selling my house and moving away from my friends and family.
I will be the first to admit that I have been very fortunate to have done all the things I’ve done, and I’m grateful every day to live the life that I do, but it isn’t a matter of luck.
The only people who are lucky in travel are game show contestants. Everyone else needs to make a choice.
If you desire to see the world, you need to make it a priority in your life. You can’t just wish that “someday” you will get to travel. As Creedence Clearwater Revival so eloquently stated, “someday never comes“.
Once you make the decision that you are going to take that big trip, the hard part is done. The rest is planning and saving.
Don’t rely on luck.