Last Trips Booked

I just booked the last of my 2024 travels, barring some major surprises, and I’m excited. Excited both to be back in Southeast Asia later this year and excited to have a good long stretch afterwards of being at home.

This has shaped up to be my most travel heavy year in over a decade. Maybe ever, depending on how you look at it.

I love it, and I don’t take it for granted how big of a privilege it is to see all the places I get to set foot. The experiences I enjoy are once in a lifetime, except I’m fortunate to have a few of them a year.

I recently talked with a friend who went through a health scare where suddenly a bunch of dreams and ideas for adventures were things he couldn’t even think of anymore. That makes me thankful for my tendency not to delay acting on most wild ideas, knowing that the years aren’t promised.

But I’ve also developed a taste for some of the things I get to do at home when I have longer stretches in one place. Real simple things, like housework and more elaborate meals and being able to say yes to more invitations knowing that it’s not another week where I should be getting ready or recovering from a trip.

All that to say, rather than seeing these two sides of my life in competition with one another, I’ve started thinking, how lucky! I get to order from both menus.