The other day my friend, Sean, and I were texting and he asked me about my trip.  I said there were good days and bad, but overall the trip has been great.  He was surprised to hear that one could have a bad day while on vacation so we got to discussing it and the thought stuck with me for a while afterwards.  I realized that as with many things, the concept of a bad day is a matter of perspective.  In reality, I haven’t had any bad days while I’ve been traveling, I’ve just had some days that aren’t as good as others.  A bad day would be if my passport gets lost or stolen since that could delay my trip a bit while I get a new one.  A bad day would be if my ATM card got eaten by a cash machine or I lost my credit card.  A bad day would be if I was severely injured or sick and needed medical care or worse yet sent home.  A bad day is when a loved one gets diagnosed with cancer.  Those are situations that classify as bad days.  Having to walk ½ hour in the rain with all my luggage is just part of traveling.  It doesn’t constitute a bad day.  It reminds me of the saying, “The worst day fishing is still better than the best day at work.”  I think this applies to traveling as well.  Even when I have a day that not as great as some others, it still beats being at home and having to go to work every day.

This train of thought led me to think about the things that I worry about while on this trip and life in general really (I’m a worrier).  In his spoken word song, “Everybody’s Free (to Wear Sunscreen)”, Baz Luhrman states, “The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind.  The kind that blindside you at 4pm on some idle Tuesday.”  This line always sticks with me.  I sometimes feel that the things that I worry about are the things that A) many times don’t even come to pass and/or B) I think are problems but are really nothing.

In conclusion, I think one of my goals on this trip is to worry less; to stop thinking about the worst case scenario and to just go with the flow.  If something goes wrong (i.e. I miss a bus or I have to stay at a different hostel because the one I wanted is full), that doesn’t make it a “bad day.”  It’s just something that happened and there’s probably something good that’s going to come out of it.  A truly bad day may or may not happen.  I hope it doesn’t, but I’m not in control of that and worrying about it won’t help anything.  Corri Ten Boom said, “Worrying doesn’t empty tomorrow of its sorrow, it empties today of its strength” and that is 100% true.

PS-I’ve included the lyrics to “Everybody’s Free (to Wear Sunscreen)” since I love the message of the song.  Also, ironically, out of the thousands of songs in my iTunes this one came up as I was writing this blog post.

Ladies and Gentlemen of the class of ’97.
Wear sunscreen.
If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it.
The long term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists, whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience…
I will dispense this advice now.

Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth; oh never mind; you will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they have faded.  But trust me, in 20 years you’ll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can’t grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked…You’re not as fat as you imagine.

Don’t worry about the future; or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubblegum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind.  The kind that blindside you at 4pm on some idle Tuesday.

Do one thing everyday that scares you.

Sing.

Don’t be reckless with other people’s hearts, don’t put up with people who are reckless with yours.

Floss.

Don’t waste your time on jealousy;
Sometimes you’re ahead,
Sometimes you’re behind.
The race is long, and in the end, it’s only with yourself.

Remember the compliments you receive, forget the insults;
If you succeed in doing this, tell me how.

Keep your old love letters, throw away your old bank statements.

Stretch.

Don’t feel guilty if you don’t know what you want to do with your life.
The most interesting people I know didn’t know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives, some of the most interesting 40 year olds I know still don’t.

Get plenty of calcium.

Be kind to your knees, you’ll miss them when they’re gone.

Maybe you’ll marry, maybe you won’t, maybe you’ll have children, maybe you won’t, maybe you’ll divorce at 40, maybe you’ll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary.
Whatever you do, don’t congratulate yourself too much or berate yourself either.
Your choices are half chance, so are everybody else’s.
Enjoy your body, Use it every way you can… Don’t be afraid of it, or what other people think of it,
It’s the greatest instrument you’ll ever own…

Dance… even if you have nowhere to do it but in your own living room.

Read the directions, even if you don’t follow them.

Do NOT read beauty magazines, they will only make you feel ugly.

Get to know your parents, you never know when they’ll be gone for good.

Be nice to your siblings; They are the best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future.

Understand that friends come and go, but for the precious few you should hold on.
Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle because the older you get, the more you need the people you knew when you were young.

Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard;
Live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft.

Travel.

Accept certain inalienable truths, prices will rise, politicians will philander, you too will get old, and when you do you’ll fantasize that when you were young prices were reasonable, politicians were noble and children respected their elders.

Respect your elders.

Don’t expect anyone else to support you.
Maybe you have a trust fund, Maybe you have a wealthy spouse; but you never know when either one might run out.

Don’t mess too much with your hair, or by the time you’re 40, it will look 85.

Be careful whose advice you buy, but, be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia, dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it’s worth.

But trust me on the sunscreen…