Some years ask questions, while other years answer them~ My question to you: Did you enjoy your story?

You may be thinking, “But my story isn’t over yet”. We get it, neither is ours, and yet in our pursuit of a life less ordinary, we spend hours each year discussing where we want this road to take us. And those answers help direct us along the right path.

What we see around us is that although so many have so much, society has more and more people who are dissatisfied with their lives.

10 Days. How many people never take a trip longer than 10 days? How many people never use up all of their vacation time? Brook Silva-Braga A Map for Saturday.

Recently, I came across a video that I first discovered years ago. When I first saw it, it brought me to tears. Seeing a couple living life to the fullest in the wilds of South America, as we were planning our own trip south of the border, was beyond inspiring. The voice-over added to the video near the end asked two important questions. The first: “Is it possible to be happy with this life?”. The second, the one that cut to the quick, “Did you enjoy your story?”

As many know, my mom passed away in 2005. Two of Jim’s siblings passed years ago. We have several friends who lost young children, and a sweet friend recently died just one week after getting a cancer diagnosis. None of us is guaranteed more than this moment in time.

We need to not take a single day for granted. Every day, the question “Did you enjoy your story”? should be in the front of your mind.

We have been so fortunate, blessed really. We knew early on that seeing the world and living life out in the world was what we wanted. Now, as we near our 60s, we are still absolutely focused on living in a way so we will never regret our choices. We are not going to retire in 5 years and live in Boca. Lol, partly because we can’t afford to. But more so because we’ve seen the world, and it has shaped who we are. And once that switch has been flipped, you can’t go back.

“You think you’re in this alone, but then you see that really there are so many others out there doing the same thing.” A Map for Saturday

Years ago, we first saw A Map For Saturday. Brooks Silva-Braga left his fancy job in sports broadcasting and backpacked around the world for one year, producing a spectacular documentary along the way and changing his life forever. Yes, he went back to “normal” life as many do, and married, had children, and went back to a job in television. But his experience and the people he met along the way upended his perspective.

“A normal life just doesn’t seem that attractive anymore”. A Map for Saturday

The last bit of the documentary flashes to interviews with many of those he shared time with during that year. Each and every time I watch this documentary, I find myself sobbing, listening to like-minded individuals talk about how much they dread going “home” because, after a certain amount of time, the road is home. They talk of how alive they feel when out in the world, how they plan on simply going home to work to earn money so they can, once again, re-enter the life of those on the road.

“It’s like your life is a chalkboard and you are slowly erased, so you return ‘home, ‘ but you just don’t fit anymore.” A Map for Saturday

A couple of times per year, we dig out that DVD and watch it again. We remember all of our firsts; the first time our plane touched down in Puerto Vallarta in 1994 and we discovered a vibrant city that has been our destination more than any other in our travels, has been our home at one point, and may very well be again in the future.

The first trip to Europe, armed with Rick Steves‘ “Europe through the Back Door,” a Eurail pass, and no agenda.

The first time we sat in awe watching a lion roar in South Africa, enjoying wildlife wandering past our Land Rover, and the view of the iconic Table Mountain in Cape Town.

We remember our first street noodles in SE Asia, finding the perfect beach in Australia, hanging with penguins in New Zealand.

We’ve sailed some of the most majestic rivers in the world; The Yangtze in China showed us an entirely new culture. The Nile brought us to some of the most magnificent ruins in Egypt. Floating the Rhine and Danube gave us a glimpse into the magnificence and history of central Europe.

There is no adrenaline high like entering a new country, having no idea where we’ll sleep that night or how we’ll get around, but knowing we’ll figure it out.

India…we’re coming back for you! The most challenging place we’ve ever traveled was the place where we have never felt more alive. Love it or hate it, India changes you forever.

Nomads. Vagabonds. Gypsies.

We are, as Jimmy Buffett sang, the people your parents warned you about.

We are the people, there isn’t any doubt
We are the people they still can’t figure out
We are the people who love to sing “Twist and Shout”
Shake it up, baby
We are the people our parents warned us about

Returning to Thailand for a few weeks in February was a full-force reality check on our most authentic selves. Out in the world is where we are most at home.

Currently, we are more settled into one location than we’ve been in decades. Today, we embrace precious time with family that can’t be replicated, all as we regularly check airfare to our next exotic location.

In answer to the wise old man’s question, YES, we did enjoy our story and fully plan on continuing to live a life as wide as it is long to weave more chapters into our amazing life.

Don’t be afraid your life will end; be afraid that it will never begin. ~  Grace Hansen