The other day a colleague was telling me about his mother’s request to take him on a vacation over Christmas break.  He doesn’t want to go because he thinks the family should put money towards hardwood floors.  Immediately, my jaw dropped as I gasped for air.   Well I suppose that is very practical of him, but I don’t think ideas like that have ever even entered into my brain. No no my friends, my life is about adventures.

But then I got to thinking,his reaction is probably quite typical whereas mine is probably “bizarre”.  I mean at my age, I dodge questions like: why you don’t buy a condo?  “Oh you’re off to Las Vegas, are you getting married?”  “Don’t you want kids, Mandy?” (Followed by responses like, “They give me a reason to get up in the morning.  Everything I do is for my children.”)

We live in a society where you are supposed to go to school, graduate with a degree (check), get a job (check) and then find a partner, buy a house and have a couple of kids.

Well what if you want to take a detour and follow that path later?  Or perhaps never?

Then you pack up your life and go to Morocco indefinitely and the questions shift to comments like, “You’re so brave, I could never do that”.

Now, I’m not saying that one way of living is better than other.  Rather we should all live a little.  Take a risk.  Go on an adventure.  Try something new. Do something fun!  Take a year off.  (It’s just one thing white people like to do. Oh, and record it in our Moleskin notebooks.)  Each person’s definition of risk and adventure will be different.

Perhaps heading off to a foreign country and avoiding Starbucks is too much for one person, but spending a weekend closer to home would be a big deal.  Do it! Going out to a restaurant where you don’t know what you are eating may be fun to some, yet disgusting to others.  Try it!  Or my biggest fear, heading out to a movie alone.  I know, I should go! Because really, you have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

The other day my friend sent me a link to a blog and the final sentence basically sums up my philosophy on life:  “You’re going to be dead soon. You might as well do something fun, in the meantime”.

Now you can  start planning your Moroccan adventure to visit me!!