Trips: Making them happen

[azbackpackr]

My daughter and I were discussing problems she has with friends who say, "Oh, yeah, I want to go on that trip" and then don't follow through with the planning, taking time off work, etc. They just talk about it. My daughter went to New York for 8 days in Oct. even though she had JUST started a new job, and she is planning a trip to Europe in July, even though she JUST bought a new car with a big monthly payment. (She is taking a second, part-time, job to pay for Europe.) She plans a lot of her trips with the one friend she can trust to actually FOLLOW THROUGH with plans. That is the thing that bothers her the most, that she tries to plan things with some of her friends, but everything always falls through with those other friends, because they do not organize their time, and put it on the calendar and make it happen. They just talk about it.

For some of us who are not young and single, I understand the problems of following through on trip plans. When you have family obligations, maybe not much leisure time or extra money, and kids in the house, it is harder to plan ahead. (It is better then to plan stuff with the kids, such as family camping.) However, my daughter's friends are young and single. And we all know people, of all ages, who say, "Oh, I would love to do that!" but then we observe what they actually DO on the weekend. They clean house and go shopping. Or, if younger, they may go to the bar at night and sleep til noon or later on both Sat. and Sun.--so there goes the outdoor weekend.

Sometimes it seems I just have to WILL trips to happen. I put them on the calendar, but other things come up. I have to balance out those other things. Which is more important, my granddaughter's birthday or a trip to Rainbow Bridge? Well, I am probably going to miss my granddaughter's birthday this year, to go to Rainbow Bridge. My granddaughter will not notice. She is only 3. I can go visit her before or after that trip, and maybe even have more fun with her, since there will not be a party going on.

I think there really has to be a measure of true passion in order for some of us to make trips happen. True passion: I could not afford to go on a one week backpacking trip to the Sierras, where I'd be gone from home for 9 days, even though I sold a bunch of stuff, including my canoe, to pay for it. I still came up short, since I also had to take all those days off work, where I would not be earning any money to pay the bills. Solution: I put some of the cost on my credit card. A bad solution, I know it. However, what memories I have of that trip to the Sierras!

A lot of what I experience is that people will say they like to hike or whatever, but they won't even make time for day hikes! Instead of trying to convert them, I either go by myself, or find friends who do know how to make time. I think a lot of people, they get a new girlfriend or boyfriend who isn't used to making plans and going places, and they get out of the habit, or they always have to end up leaving that person at home in order to go on the trip. True passion: I am going on the trip whether you want to go or not. Get it together, get yourself in shape and get the proper gear, you can go. But I am NOT GOING TO SIT HOME FOR YOU.

[te_wa]

send me some of the books. as far as taking up space, literation* deserves a spot on my shelf and i will make room for them.
only one of the few items that deserves recognition is liturature. unfortunately, bigger tv's is what sells to this dumbed down country.

*bushism, not a real word

[PaleoRob]

Ugh, I can't stand most TV shows. We've got only one TV. People keep trying to give us more, but we don't want 'em! Why would I want a TV in my bedroom!?

[azbackpackr]

Ugh, I can't stand most TV shows. We've got only one TV. People keep trying to give us more, but we don't want 'em! Why would I want a TV in my bedroom!?

I told my husband, when his dad gave us our first TV (I was 35 at the time and had never owned one), that if he ever thought we should have one in the bedroom then it would be time to start talking about a divorce!

The main reason I feel that way is because I like to fall asleep early and I like it to be very quiet in the room. I like the house quiet as well. I don't miss the TV now that he has not paid the DTV bill. I don't live here full-time any more. My roommate in Flag watches TV at night, but thankfully never later than around 9 pm or so. The walls in that place are thin.

You can take all the TVs (and all the bottles of perfume from that other thread), and shoot them into outer space forever, as far as I am concerned.