I once overheard a conversation on a plane. An elderly lady asked a young professional about his life.
The guy explained that he had moved from the Netherlands, where he was from, to Malta. He had a little flat near the beach, but he spent most of his time at work traveling. He would spend a day or two in Malta, fly from client to client for three days, then maybe visit his parents in the Netherlands for the weekend. Then, he’d repeat the whole thing the next week.
What do you think about that lifestyle? How does it feel to read this description? Does it sound like it could be fun? Does it sound exhausting? Whatever your answer, let it serve as a little reminder: The best and the worst are usually subjective. Whether something is heaven or hell is up to us much more so than whether it’s cloudy or hot.
The man on the plane felt he was living the dream. “It is the best life! I get to fly around all the time, then spend time at the beach, and I can still go home whenever I want!” Two rows back, I started getting stressed just listening to him enumerate his various destinations.
Despite what it often feels like, you do not have to comply with society’s, or a group’s, or even just one other person’s verdict of what constitutes the best or the worst. You are free to create and live by your own scoreboard, and you need not justify your ranking.
Maybe you’ll even throw out the labels “best” and “worst” altogether, but that’s for another day. After all, even the most enthusiastic traveler can only take one plane at a time.
