Since we're home and this last trip is in the books, so to speak, I revisited my trip journal from our epic 2000 European adventure, previously mentioned in various blog posts. My goal was to discover what I wrote about some of the places we had just returned to, 24 years later.

I honestly don't think I have read this tome since printing it and having it bound. What a treasure trove of insight. Though I only briefly scanned its 50+ pages, there was one paragraph that seemed to truly encapsulate why we travel.

"As we walked around, we met a man from Berlin, admiring the view. He was animated when he spoke of this area and the beauty it held. He told of the weather contrasts between here and his home. He told us how important and admirable it was to travel when you are young and healthy. His heart isn't very good, sensing an end to his life, he comes to the place he finds the most beautiful... Arles. His zest and appreciation impressed me." (1/08/01)

My theory is that memories are much like money. You make as much of both as you can during your earning years and fill up your bank accounts. That way, when the opportunity to create new memories just doesn't exist as it once did, you can withdraw from your account and live on all you have saved. Memories are a currency that can buy happiness.

When we got married, Steve and I vowed that travel was going to be an important part of our life together. My parents held off on fully embracing what memories there were to be made because their mantra was, "When we retire, we'll do ____!" Illness took them both when they were only 60. At the time, their memory bank account showed insufficient funds. It has impacted me greatly over the last 40 years of their absence. So, if there was ever the question of why we travel, you now have the answer.

“And then there is the most dangerous risk of all —

the risk of spending your life not doing what you want

on the bet you can buy yourself the freedom to do it later.”

– Randy Komisar