Exploring

The 141 hums along the rail, sights set on its destination, confined to one path, a very small chance the train never reaches the next place it will temporarily call home before embarking on the next leg of its journey.

If only it were that easy, I think to myself.

I’m sitting in the window seat of an Amtrak bound for Albany, a long day now behind me, but yet, so much more lay ahead. The sun is falling, finally, after a day spent scorching the East Coast. The searing heat made life miserable for so many of us on this day, so you think I may see the sun’s descent into nothingness and bid it good riddance on the way down.

But today, I can’t help but appreciate it.

The golden ball of light sits on top of the Catskills off in the distance, its rays reflecting off the Hudson River, reminding me of Claude Monet’s Impression, Sunrise, which triggers happy memories of my favorite high school class.

Even the Impressionist himself couldn’t have painted an oil-on-canvas as inspiring as this.

Such are the treasures of exploring.

A business meeting takes me to New York City for a few hours, so I choose to make a full day of it in spite of the blistering heat. With no plan in place, I allow my curiosities to take me anywhere that piques my interest. A 5 a.m. wake-up call leaves me groggy, so I decide on sitting down in an air-conditioned cafe for one of NYC’s supposedly superior bagels (I still don’t see the hype) and an Americano to put some fuel into the tank.

But then I go travel down a side street, and then another one, and suddenly I find myself in line for an acai bowl, this smoothie-like mixture of superfoods I had read about but never seen before, so I capitalized on the opportunity. Bananas, hemp granola, almond butter, and the works. Damn, it was good.

With a stomach nearing its capacity, I then decide to find my cafe for some coveted relaxation time. Instead, I stumble upon a newly-opened poke place, another mysterious food to me I had read about but not yet eaten. To my surprise, I devour the poke bowl in minutes. In conclusion, I find the smoothie bowl experience much more pleasant, but I’m glad I’ve satisfied my aquatic culinary curiosities.

By the end of my 12-hour day there, I had walked six or seven miles and taken refuge in the shady haven of Central Park. I explored Lincoln Center and its accompanying square, had a successful business meeting, continued my foodie journey through the foodie capital of the world by stopping off for a street gyro at one of the city’s countless street vendors, AND made my train home back in time. The Impressionist scene on the ride to Albany added the cherry on top to an intentionally spontaneous day.

And yet, not enough of us take advantage of experiences like this.

Too often we make excuses. “I don’t have time” takes the cake as the world’s most elite excuse. It’s a hard one to counter. Who am I to know what you have time for?

That excuse is the biggest lie you keep telling yourself. We all have time. Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, 52 weeks per year. Truth be told, we’ve got nothing but time. You make time for the experiences and the people you really want to have. It’s that simple.

We’re all different, so long walks and food experimentation and train rides may not match your idea of fun. So whatever it is that you find enjoyment in, let me ask you this:

What’s holding you back?

Now, I know what you’re thinking. The other excuse.

I get it. Many of our paychecks don’t find themselves within the comforts of our checking accounts. Instead, our hard-earned dollars go to our state and federal governments, landlords, car dealerships, insurance agencies, and universities.

Unless you find yourself in this gaping hole of crippling debt--like six-figures--then I get it. Hopefully you aren’t in that situation.

But chances are, you find yourself like the rest of us. You won’t admit it to yourself, but you do have some residual income to spend. It may be small and/or take time to build up, but it is there and it is yours to spend wisely. Spend it on experiences, not material possessions.

There’s that band you’ve always wanted to see in concert, but you’re not willing to shell out the $75.00. Or on a bigger scale, you can’t bring yourself to purchase those plane tickets to Venice or London or wherever your heart desires to go. My friends have thrown around all types of trips in the group message over the years: weekends at rented lake houses and weeks on a cruise surrounded by booze and babes. We’ve all said it’d be cool, but just could never agree on anything because money has served as a deterrent.

Don’t let that happen. I’m begging you. If you really want to do something, just go do it. Our 20s are too short. Heck, our lives are too short. Loosen up a bit.

I’ll leave you with this. I set this quote as the background on my phone when I studied abroad. It doesn’t just have to relate to travel.  I hope it serves you well and that you can apply it to your life and all of the experiences you hope to have.

“Travel while you’re young and able. Don’t worry about the money, just make it work. Experience is far more valuable than money will ever be.”

You’re going to spend a large chunk of your life making money.

Trust me, it will come back.