I won’t lie – I do enjoy a good “I told you so” when someone admits I was right with advice.  At a recent lunch, however, with our current college intern and former intern, I wasn’t feeling any sense of satisfaction – I was sad.  Sad that our former college intern was telling me he wished he had listened to my advice to take time off to travel before transitioning to a full-time job (for the next 50+ years).  Within a week of graduation he had moved into a new apartment and started his full-time job – the vacation clock struck 19 days. He would have 19 days to use as vacation, sick or personal to use in a calendar year.  Since he started mid-year, he received half.  He said “I should have listened to you”, I laughed and said “I’m the old person (aka your parents age) that no one listens to”. He wanted a travel do over.

My advice was based on experience as I’ve been working for over twenty years since college graduation.   In fact, when I did change jobs, I gave three weeks notice and ended on a Friday only to walk across the office complex with my desk accessories and pictures to begin my new job that Monday in a different building.  No time to decompress and reflect on the past twelve years at one firm and the immense changes and challenges yet to begin at the new firm.  My vacation clock struck too and I started on the hamster wheel of work, eat, gym, sleep, rinse, repeat longing for my travel escapes to reset my body, mind and spirit.

Our current intern who has an offer to start a full-time job in New York City in August has time to have some fun before entering the working world.  She had done the semester abroad (I only wish I had that opportunity in school back then) so was planning with friends to rent a Winnie to do a U.S. cross-country road trip.  I sat at lunch jealous of the endless possibilities she has in front of her and in awe of her independence to take to the open road and use her free time wisely.

And then I started thinking about a travel do-over, all of those places and itineraries I’ve never done that require more days than I have, permission from my bosses and a mobile lifestyle (or wealthy lifestyle) to support me.  I’m not sure I want to change time and all of that movie magic but maybe experience the travel do over as an adult (I might need to wait until retirement though).

• I wanted the gap year (of travel) many foreign students take before starting college (or their job)
• I want the time to take a cross-country road trip with friends
• I wanted the semester abroad or semester at sea
• I wanted to experience those long repositioning cruises disconnected from the world to relax.
• I want to experience house sitting on a tropical island or in a luxurious home
• I wondered if I have it in me to be nomadic for an extended time (more than a month)
• I wanted to be selfish and think ME, ME, ME rather than BILLS, BILLS, STUDENT LOANS (now Mortgage)

If not often you get a travel do over and I wonder if I had one what would I do with two weeks, a month or even two months?  Makes you dream of winning the lottery as the only option out there to tear yourself away from the routine and drama of life.  So I ask you, what would you do with a travel do-over?  Where would you go, for how long and why?