Leaving Things Undone
Whenever we go anywhere far away — let’s say an airplane ride away — I feel the need to do all the things. See everything. Go everywhere. Check it all off the list in case we don’t have a chance to come back.
It’s an impossible task unless there are very few things you want to do in a place.
This past trip to the UK, I quickly became obsessed with trying to fit in a few days in Cornwall. If we were going to be in Cornwall, I wanted to also go out to the Isles of Scilly. And if we were doing all of that, we might as well slip into Wales. (Oh! And throw in Tintagel Castle on the way there.)
Josh kept saying, “Okay, but what are you taking out?” Nothing. That is what I am taking out. I am going to do everything we have planned, AND I’m going to somehow traverse several more areas.
We ended up not crushing several more places into a packed schedule, but it hurt my heart to be so close and miss out. Who knows how the world will change? What if I never get back there?
I get that is just life. Life is a series of things that are left undone.
2 comments
I understand this. We traveled out of state, a plane ride away, for a break two years ago. There was a book store I really wanted to visit but it just didn’t fit. It was closing and we were in the middle of another activity – and having fun so I didn’t want to leave. I had to let go of the bookstore and it was fine – not the same as castles of historical places – but I still wish I could have popped in.
Ha! That’s how our trip turned from six weeks to over three months. (No need of course to rush home for school or work.) It’s also how we went to Jordan and Israel about 11 years ago (we were visiting family in Doha, so “they are just right there” saw us add three new countries), and Korea in 2019 (we were going to be in Japan, so why not add on Korea? lol)
Anyway, you’re young! You can always go back when you’re older. But in my 60s, this last trip definitely included some places that “if we don’t do it now, we never will” (eg Oxford day trip from London) and also, “I can live with not going there” (palaces and castles I wanted to see but aren’t worth a separate trip). There are too many other places I want to visit, and time and money is finite, so I now have to prioritise even more.
Also, on a longer trip, I now prioritise stamina too. So some sights get dropped off. And you know, I don’t regret that one bit!
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