I am just back from a long weekend overseas! It was exhausting and I got a little sick which made it not so fun. But the very best thing about traveling happened - I made it home :-)
There is such a wonderful feeling about landing, exiting the plane, trudging through immigration and then those lovely men and women say the magical words: "Welcome home!" And suddenly I'm not tired. I'm ready to get home, get showered, do laundry and pick up speed again.
Of course with that comes all the thinking that I have done while away. Because that is the second best thing of traveling. I tend to think a lot about my life, what I want, what I like about where I am and what I dislike etc. It's all very introspective. And once I have gotten my U.S. land-legs back, I'm raring to go again and make new goals or double down on my previous ones.
Above all, I know that when I travel, I am so so privileged to see another city, town or country/culture. This trip I happened to be in a major European city so I saw many cultures which was nice and annoying as is always the case - we are all so different. Different but interesting.
Now I'm home and aside from a very bad work week ahead of me I am looking forward to closing out the year. Oh and getting started on the next one. This definitely means some financial goals - attacking debt, saving $$$ and some investing too.
And I'm looking forward to finalizing my 2017 budget and to get back to tracking my expenses (I took a break a few months back when it was all going pear shaped because of work and life stress). I think that making an annual budget and checking back in is one of the best things one can do. It is so helpful for remembering those items that we pay once a quarter, semi-annually or annually. I'm not always so good with checking back in on the annual budget, although I do make a monthly budget, but each year I do a bit better.
I will share parts of my budget and budgeting process once I am done. But starting now I will also look for some good articles on budgeting and will share those links. While everyone's budget and financial goals will be different, it does help to have some basics down and to see how others approach it. And when it comes to budgeting this is where it is 100% okay to borrow and steal others' ideas :-)
We will all be better off if we become better stewards of our money and one great way to do that is to look to others who are successful and then experiment, adjust, experiment, adjust until you have your own formula down pat.
Pru
I'm a bit behind in saying this, but I sickness aside, I hope you had a great trip! I also get very introspective on trips as well. Between being alone with my thoughts while traveling to just stepping out of the bubble of every day life, I find I'm always looking at my life back home from an outside, 3rd party perspective, which is often from a more detached and ergo a lot more clear/realistic lens. I absolutely love coming back to that refereshed, "let's get to this!" feeling when I get back home, too!
ReplyDeleteI'm definitely looking forward to stealing...cough cough, I mean "borrowing" the budgeting ideas and process you'll be sharing :) I've got your newer post links already opened up on my screen and I'm looking forward to digging through them!
Hi Desperado! We are both on the same page when it comes to traveling. I think it just boils down to exposure to different things, places, people. Most of us reflect and then grow from the experience. I believe it makes us better people whether you are visiting the next town over, another country or just diving into a book you normally wouldn't pick up.
DeleteSpeaking of budgeting...I need to do some more financial reading and post some links!
Pru