I’m sure you’ve thought about this. Most people have. It’s that common question, “What would you do if you won the lottery?”
If I could live anyway I wanted, I would live a nomadic lifestyle. Part of the time, I would choose to spend with my partner, but I would want the freedom to go on journeys whenever I want. We would travel together, too. However, part of my dream is to travel solo.
I feel that solo travel opens you up to more possibilities. You consider only yourself when deciding what to do or where to go. You have the experiences you choose to have without the need to worry about whether a travel partner will enjoy them.
The other benefit of solo travel is that it forces you to make new friends because you don’t have someone you already know to lean back on. I feel like I would talk to more people and get to know them if I was traveling alone. If you go to a restaurant or bar alone, you are more likely to talk to other travellers or locals. That in itself enriches your experience.
There are many places in this world I would like to see, but I would start locally. I would visit places in my province and then my own country first. Churchhill, Manitoba is one of the first places I would go. There I would see the polar bears, kayak with the beluga whales, and visit the MV Ithica, a British-flagged ship that was stranded in the sixties.
The other major Canadian places I want to visit are the east and west coasts. There isn’t a specific town or city that I want to go to. I want to be free to choose my destinations as I go. I can stop to explore a hiking trail or just to sit on the hood of the car and watch the sunset over the ocean. I can visit the historical home of Anne of Green Gables or I can ride the ferry to Vancouver Island.
I have some locations that are must-stops because of the friends I have made over the years. I have friends who live across Canada. Some I have met in person. Others are people I have worked with and gotten to know online. Spending time with these friends would be so much fun.
Of course, as I travel, I want to experience as many forms of travel as possible. I love to drive so I will choose that often but I want to travel by boat, by train, and by plane. I have only traveled by plane a couple times in my life but I have never traveled by boat or train.
I do want to travel outside Canada, too, of course. There are many beautiful places to go in the United States. I have never travelled internationally though. I want to visit as many places as possible.
Paris is number one on my list. I want to visit old Paris where Ernest Hemingway lived. I want to visit the cafes he wrote in, see where he lived, and explore. I want to see the bulls fight in Spain. I want to walk along the cliffs in the English countryside. Greece, Italy, Russia, India — there is an entire world out there and it makes me sad to think that I may never get to see it all.
If time and money were not an issue, this is what I would do — I would be a nomad. I would be free.
What would you do if time and money weren’t an issue? How would you live your life?