Imagine visiting an ice creamery with 195 different flavours. Looking across the counter, your mind conjures up vivid taste-bud imagery: the sweet tang of sour apple, the velvety texture of mango cream, the bubble-gum fruitiness of rainbow swirl… they all tantalise you in their own unique way.
Okay, time to decide. May I please have the… umm… umm… You stand there, paralyzed by indecision. But why? This is your moment, anything you want, the world is your oyster. Or at least the ice creamery is your oyster. It has opened up, allowed you in, given you free reign, and now… nothing. You sad, sad, connoisseur of ice cream. You’re a mess.
We’ve dreamt about it for so long: 100% location independence, free to travel to any place on the planet, free to stay forever. But just like the ice creamery, we have about 195 different options. That’s how many countries we have to choose from, according to the United Nations’ definition.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m 100% grateful for this predicament, and as they say, it’s a great problem to have. But it’s an odd problem nonetheless, which is why I thought I’d pose a question to you (at the end of the post).
I’m not the only indecisive one though. Over at Traveling Savage, Keith was trying to decide where he should spend a month in Argentina (Buenos Aires, Mendoza, Cordoba or Salta). As I read his thoughts and the 70+ comments from his loyal readers, I could feel his frustration. I could hear him flicking obsessively through websites, poring over detailed personal accounts, reading out-of-date travel advisories, seeking advice from his closest friends, doing everything he could to make an ‘informed’ decision.
Decisions, Decisions. Where to go? - The Library of Congress
But can we really make an ‘informed’ decision about a place we’ve never visited? I think so, even if some elements will always be a gamble.
We went through the same process before choosing to spend 3 months in Montreal. Now, it’s our favourite city on the planet. Not because we feel some strange obligation to say we enjoy everywhere we go, but because we clicked with the city on so many levels. Sure, we haven’t endured a Montreal winter yet, and sure, there are downsides to such liberalism, but it really opened our eyes to how we define ‘quality of life’. And without the research beforehand, I don’t think we would have hit such a jackpot.
Anyway, I don’t want to get too philosophical here. It’s just interesting to see how we deal with such abundant freedom. Which brings me to the question I talked about earlier:
If you could go anywhere, for any amount of time, and had to book the tickets right now, where would you go? And, more importantly, is it an easy decision for you to make?
Luckily for Keith, I believe he’s reached a decision to spend some time in the culture-rich city of Salta. And I feel relieved too, not just for him, but for us because we’ve now decided to spend a few months in the nature-rich Argentine city of San Carlos de Bariloche. Hopefully, we can catch up with Keith in Salta, and even Marcello from Wandering Trader who’s already in BA.
By the way, if you have any info on Bariloche, we’d love to hear about it, but only if it’s positive, because we don’t want to go through this again, at least for another few months. :)
Well interestingly I wanted to go everywhere when I was younger and did manage to get to a lot of places but didnt really get into the culture cause I only stayed a couple of days in each port in Europe. Nowadays though I’m a bit picky – I’d like to go to Bellagio in Italy and Santorini in Greece and I would probably just stay there in those places for a bit. I’m much more interested in staying a bit still and getting to know a place more and just soak up the atmosphere, bit like how you have been doing Montreal. Its interesting how some places and the travelling a lot in general just doesnt do it for me anymore – and the need to touch base with home and the familiarity of that is more important now too. Different thoughts from the oldie!
Heather