I have been in one place for the better part of six weeks. A quick trip to Atlanta last week hardly qualified as travel. Two non-stop flights, two nights in a hotel, two speeches and two cab rides is a piece of cake.
But tomorrow I leave for a week and that is the beginning of a heavy travel schedule that will include Abu Dhabi, Italy, Fiji, Australia and all corners of the USA. And I am feeling a familiar sense of dread. This always comes as a bit of a surprise. You see I love what I do and travel is the only way to meet readers face to face and to learn the amazing things they have done as a result of being provoked by something I wrote. I always learn from these encounters.
Travel also allows me to provide a bit of light for many who live daily in workplaces that are dark. Audiences often find my words inspiring and that gives me a sense of doing something worthwhile in the world.
I always thought it was the travel I dreaded. I would joke that my clients paid me to travel and my speaking and consulting were free.
But this morning, as I walked my dog Bo for the second to the last time for weeks to come, I turned my thoughts in another direction. What are the real costs I thought.
- time with my life partner and best friend, Janell
- these walks with Bo in the early morning before the world has come alive
- writing in the morning at my own desk
- sleeping in my own bed with my own pillow
- the comfort of routine
- a cup of coffee and a local newspaper
- the time to visit family
- time with friends
- an exercise routine
- healthy eating
- a good nights sleep
And I realized the list was a long one and all of the elements on the list had two things in common. They are elements of a "normal" life for someone my age and they are all things I value.
For some reason this thought process has reduced the feeling of dread. I am making a choice to forgo a number of things I value greatly, in order to get in a silver cylinder full of people with germs to pursue other things I value greatly. When stated this way, the reason for dread disappears. It is not so much a matter of cost. I am choosing between conflicting positive values. The issue may well be seeing that all values get served at different points in my life and that when possible I merge values. So I guess I will get back to my packing.