Kindness of Strangers

At least once a week someone mentions the falling dollar, rising gas prices, the tanking economy, the global food shortage, the housing crisis, or the persistent troubles with American Airlines (those mechanical problems just can’t seem to get themselves out of the news).  I’d be lying if I said it didn’t worry me.  “Could we have picked a worse time to go on this trip?” I moan, approximately once a day.  My greatest fear is that, despite our best efforts to be frugal, we’ll run out of money half way through our trip.  And then what will we do? 

I was shaken out of this doomsday thinking when a letter postmarked Anchorage, Alaska, arrived this Friday.  It was from my friend, Nikki, whom I’ve shared an 18-year correspondence with.  A fellow world traveler, she shares a lot of the same dreams that I do and always has a way of making me feel better.  She said these issues, rather than making her feel doubtful, remind her of the importance of getting out there and living life.  “These things are a reminder that our time here is precious and we should make the most of it:  sooner rather than later.”  Truer words were never spoke. 

I think of all the places I dreamed of going eight years ago, fresh out of college, when the dollar was soaring and my life had few encumberments.  What did I tell myself?  I don’t have enough money.  Europe will always be there.  There will be a better time to go in the future.  My point is, it’s always something, and most of us are very good at talking ourselves out of things.  There’s no perfect time to plan a trip like this.  If it’s not the falling dollar it’s a military coup or natural disaster somewhere.  Whenever I moan about our timing, Maikael sagely responds, “It may not be the best time for the economy, but it’s the best time for us.”  And he’s right:  I’m tired of observing life from the sidelines.  At some point each of us must take that leap into the unknown in the interest of something that matters intensely to us.  I was watching the Nicholas Cage film The Weather Man last night, a film that didn’t do terribly well at the box office, but which I found surprisingly engaging.  The main character’s father tells him, “Do you know that the harder thing to do and the right thing to do are usually the same thing? Nothing that has meaning is easy.”

And besides:  I heard that the dollar nudged upward last week.