The Eyes of Envy

Jeff and I have talked to many people about our travels, and even though they view our traveling life as glamourous, we have an entirely different story to tell. Traveling isn’t always easy, and often times things don’t go as smoothly as we had hoped, but that is to be expected. I’m not saying that our life isn’t good, in fact, we wouldn’t trade traveling for anything, but in many cases, we’ve had to lower our expectations based on the countries we visit. If we don’t raise our standards too high, then the chances of disappointment will be minimal.

Now, the title of this post is titled “The Eyes of Envy,” and I will explain why. Some of our acquaintances get very jealous of our travels, and they never want to hear about our adventures. That’s okay, because why would we want to expend our energy talking about our travels when it’s obvious that some individuals don’t want to hear about it? To be honest, it really isn’t worth expending our energy. I suppose that it’s easier for them to label us as being a frivolous, carefree couple who go gallivanting about without a single worry in the world. Not a single worry? Ha! If only that was the truth. There has been a countless number of times we have dodged con artists, pesky locals, and even drug cartel members in Mexico. Jeff and I both had bouts of illness. Last year in Thailand, I was looking forward to celebrating my milestone 60th birthday, but I woke up with food poisoning. The night before, we had dinner on the beach. We ordered pizza, but it wasn’t cooked all the way, and the next morning, I paid for it. Still jealous? Most of our experiences of course are good ones, but in all fairness, not all of them are. When it comes to traveling, we sometimes have to let in the bad with the good. It really is hard to not have one without the other, but that’s the way it goes.

It’s very common for friends and family to see my posts and pictures on Facebook and assume that we’re living high on the hog like a pampered couple, but appearances can be deceiving. I do post pictures of us relaxing and sipping an ice-cold coconut in Thailand or getting a 90-minute foot massage in Cambodia, but on the flip side of the coin, there have been times when we had bad stomach viruses, and ended up doing the Aztec two-step, if you catch my drift. And, no, that is something I absolutely refuse to make public—just saying.

The truth of the matter is that nobody in their right mind wants to see pictures of a traveling couple like us getting sick, and even if they did want to see something that grotesque, I would probably feel inclined to charge them for tickets to see such a show.

Now, when I talk about some of misfortunes we endure during our travels, it’s not in any way some sort of effort to get people to feel sorry for us, but rather to let them know that traveling isn’t like what they see on television or on the internet. It isn’t always easy, and it isn’t always fun. Over the years, Jeff and I have learned that it takes good coping mechanism skills to deal with some of the hassles we’ve endured. Once we make it past the obstacles that temporarily obstruct our peaceful traveling existence, we can look back on that and say, “we made it!”

Now, I’m not trying to dissuade anyone from traveling, but I feel a sense of moral obligation to let future potential travelers know that planning trips will come with its share of hiccups along the way, so before anyone decides to give us the eye of the green monster, know that Jeff and I are not the type of travelers who stay in resorts with someone catering to our every whim. We also don’t grow money in our backyard. We plan a budget, and stick to it. I’m constantly crunching umbers to figure out what I can afford.

Thank you for reading everyone! I hope that you enjoyed my latest blog post. 🤗✍️