Keeping wanderlust and other daydreams from cluttering up all your thoughts
I currently have wanderlust.
It happens every November, and I know it has something to do with the weather. The skies turn gray, the chilly rains fall on D.C., and I wish I were somewhere with snow instead of puddles. I dream of heading to Canada or the Alps and strapping on a pair of skis and taking to the slopes. I’ve never been a big fan of the wet, Mid-Atlantic falls and winters. I’m of the opinion that if it’s going to be cold and blistery, I should at least have snow and skiing to enjoy.
Of course, a week of vacation to someplace truly cold reminds me that my desire to live on a snow-covered mountain is simply wanderlust. It’s nice to visit, but I don’t think I’m ready to experience it six months out of every year.
When wanderlust sets in, though, it’s difficult to ignore. I have to act on it, even if I don’t actually take a vacation. If I don’t, the wanderlust consumes my thoughts and I’m not able to think of much else. Here is how I handle wanderlust in an organized way so that if I do decide to take the vacation, all of my daydreaming was actually profitable:
- Schedule time to plan the vacation. Instead of letting thoughts of wanderlust occupy a constant stream in my mind, I schedule time to plan the vacation on my schedule. If I find myself thinking about the trip when I should be doing something else, I remind myself I have set aside time to deal with it later and get back to focusing on the issue. Then, I only work on the trip during the scheduled time.
- Create a wanderlust scrapbook. When I was younger, this was an actual scrapbook I could glue things into and carry with me. Now, I simply use Evernote and drop in digital files I can access from my phone or laptop.
- Research travel details. When is the best time to travel to the location? What are the ideal places to stay? Where and when can deals be found? How much will the trip cost? What will the place look and feel liek? All of this information goes into the scrapbook or Evernote.
- Save up money for the trip. Even if I don’t end up taking the trip, I still put aside money for it. If I don’t budget the money, taking the trip won’t ever be possible. If I eventually decide to use the money for something else, I at least know exactly what I’m giving up or delaying.
How do you organize things that fill your mind and distract you from other things you should be doing? Do you plan all of your vacations, regardless of if you take them? Do you plan for other things you dream about and want to do? Do you do the same things with worries? How do you keep your mind from wandering when it should be focused?
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Posted by Erin on Nov 12, 2009 |
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18 comments posted
Posted by penguinlady - 11/12/2009
On my most recent trip, I met a woman who had her wanderlust planned to a tee. Her strategy was to plan 2 vacations in advance. She was on her trip to Morocco, had already booked and paid for her next trip the following year, and was starting to think about the trip the year following. (Granted, this woman was very lucky to be able to afford such travels!) She told me that this helped the post-vacation crash, because she already had something to look forward to when she got home.
Posted by Anita - 11/12/2009
… aaand now I have wanderlust. Only mine involves hiking and a big camera bag.
I find my mind’s wanderings are a function of my energy level. When I get enough sleep, exercise etc, it’s pretty easy to snap out of it and concentrate on what I’m supposed to be doing. When I’m tired and counting down the minutes until the end of the day, it takes a lot more to get be back to reality.
Posted by Loren - 11/12/2009
Oh so timely a post, wanderlust hits me every year about this time too, but it makes me long for a new job, or to move to a new place, to make a BIG change in my life and gain more ‘freedom’ of some kind.
Maybe planning a vacation would help, instead I try to set aside time to work on my portfolio and resume so that even if I don’t decide to job hunt RIGHT this second I still have the option to.
Posted by marla - 11/12/2009
I find pessimism works very well for squishing wanderlust–for example, I dream of taking a vacation in a tropical climate during the winter, but for various reasons that’s very unlikely to happen. So, I think about huge bugs and hurricanes, and then I’m not so interested;)
I’m of the opinion that if it’s going to be cold and blistery, I should at least have snow and skiing to enjoy.
Me too, and I live up north! For those of you who lust for sunny, snow-covered mountains in the winter, I’ll offer this: up here in Vermont it doesn’t precipitate all winter long, sometimes it’s just bitterly cold (15F) and dark (the sun goes down at 3pm) and sometimes you get hail instead (ow!). Moreover, there’s different varieties of snow–the kind that’s good for skiing is pretty rare.
Posted by Alice - 11/12/2009
I love this article! I currently cut out pictures from travel magazines and draw myself (stick figure) into them. And then I put them into a “memory shoebox.” I have the money to travel (well, I like traveling on a smaller budget; the limitations make it more creative), but I don’t have the time off. So I relieve myself with fantasy.
Posted by chacha1 - 11/12/2009
I’m in line with penguinlady’s acquaintance. For years I’ve worked in an industry that provides generous leave (legal support), DH is self-employed, so we have the time; and early in the marriage we bought a timeshare (not always a good deal, but we got a good one) so for the past six years we’ve been able to plan a week with the only expense being the exchange fee & transportation (and we usually travel by car).
So this year we’re doing a week in Sedona for DH’s birthday; next year it’ll be a week in Vegas for my birthday; and the year after it’ll be a week either in Mazatlan or in Hawaii, for our 10th anniversary. Lucky us! I loooooooove planning vacations.
Posted by Tracy - 11/12/2009
I won’t tell my hubby that you live in D.C.–and you have wanderlust. He would be SUPER jealous, because to him, D.C. is THE ULTIMATE destination. History, history, history (and a bunch of out-of-touch loony politicians, though!) In fact, it’s our summer family destination (and was our honeymoon destination years ago).
Posted by Gina - 11/12/2009
How do you organize things that fill your mind and distract you from other things you should be doing?
–Well, if I stop to plan anything about them, I’m really letting me distract me. At that point I have a choice to either jot it down and follow up later, stop what I should be doing and focus attention on this bright shiny object, or simply discipline my mind to stop the monkey-chatter and focus.
Do you plan all of your vacations, regardless of if you take them?
–No, I don’t spend time planning things like vacations until I’m committed to doing them. It’s a waste of time and energy.
If I have a thought (“gee, it would be nice to spend Christmas in Maui”), the most I do until I commit to the trip is to add it to my “list of cool things I’d like to do someday.”
Do you plan for other things you dream about and want to do?
There are different stages of planning. I might loosely plan for something by adding it to my vision board or as a line item on my “list of things I’d like to do”.
But as I said above — I do not spend ANY time planning anything concrete until I’m committed to making it happen in a specific time frame. (or actively working on committing to it at a specific time, like say looking up plane tickets to see what the going rate is to Maui at Christmas to see if it’s feasible.)
Do you do the same things with worries?
No. I spend as little time as possible giving worries free rent in my head.
How do you keep your mind from wandering when it should be focused?
–Discipline. Setting a time limit to be done with X and then I can go focus on the bright shiny thing.
Posted by Rae - 11/12/2009
My wanderlust was so incurable that I sold everything, bought an RV, and am now a full-time RVer!!!
I’m only semi-retired, so I do have to stay in places for long periods of time (no more than four to six months) to refill the coffers, but in between ’staying put’ stints I get a lot of miles under me. Anything is more bearable now that I know nothing is permanent and that I’ll soon be on my way to new sights.
I also find it helps me live in the moment more. Since I know that I’ll be leaving a place rather quickly, I don’t get complacent about getting to know it as thoroughly as possible.
Within my traveling lifestyle, I also aim for one really special trip that gets me out of the daily grind. For the summer of ‘09, the trip was a hike across the Chilkoot Pass and for that of ‘10 it’ll be a drive up the Dempster Highway to Inuvik. This winter, I’m combining pleasure and business by housesitting for friends, which has enabled me to come to Vancouver Island, a place I’ve always wanted to visit. Getting the RV here is expensive, but six months of free rent are really going to offset that cost.
Right now, I work about nine months of the year and I want to whittle that down to six months so that I can spend the other six exploring the warm winter climates of the southern US and Mexico.
Looking really far ahead, I would like to one day replace my 31′ RV with something much smaller that I could ship to Europe!
So, how do I keep my mind from wandering? I find that living the life of my dreams really helps keep me in the present.
Posted by Daphne - 11/12/2009
As a Canadian, can I point out that attributing snow to all of Canada is like attributing palm trees to **all** of the US. Yes, California has plenty of ‘em. Not so much in New York. Or Washington State. Or DC.
I live in Vancouver, otherwise known as the wet coast. We had six weeks of snow last year, over Christmas. But many years we don’t get ANY. Think of Gray’s Anatomy, set in Seattle. That’s us, too. Constant rain.
Canada is a big, diverse country. Not all of it’s cold. Not all of it’s snowy.
Sorry to sound so grumpy because I otherwise ADORE your blog. It’s supposed to rain here from tonight to Monday. Ugh!!
Posted by Erin Doland - 11/12/2009
@Daphne — Didn’t mean to offend. In my mind, was thinking about the far north in the Northwest Territories. My dad is a wildlife photographer and spends weeks out in the polar temperatures taking pictures of wolves. Probably should have named a few specific locations.
Posted by Gillian - 11/12/2009
Although I don’t care much about a trip, I do like your mention of assembling all your ideas in Evernote, or equivalent. I may find that useful.
Posted by squid - 11/13/2009
I say, keep daydreaming. It is actually a creative process that I personally need to stay healthy. It makes me happy to dream of my future and past travels. I don’t think you need to squash it or redirect these thoughts – enjoy them!
Posted by Maega - 11/13/2009
Sqid- I agree.
Half the enjoyment of a trip for me is the anticipation. So, when it occurs to me to day dream about how awesome Puerto Rico will be, I let the dream flow. It makes me happy and keeps me positive. Which, when you think about it, helps my productivity. I am a pretty unscheduled person, so I would never schedule wanderlust, but I can see someone making time for it if that is how they roll. But, not me- bring on the wanderlust, I’ll make sure everything else is done too.
Posted by Daphne - 11/13/2009
No problem, Erin. I was just a grumpypants yesterday. Am in a much better mood today because it did NOT rain, as it was supposed to. Yay!!!
Posted by Alex Fayle | Someday Syndrome - 11/16/2009
I love this post before far too few people think that time away from home/work helps things keep things organized (especially the mind!).
Posted by michelle - 11/16/2009
When I have wanderlust I plan a weekend somewhere close and go searching on couchsurfing dot com for like minded people or pick out a cute place on airbnb dot com second one for people who like a more predictable situation. One doesn’t have to bottle up all my wanderlust in big week long stints while they trudge through the 9-5 the rest of the year. It’s quite refreshing to know that Houston, Austin or New Orleans are all so accessible.
Posted by Vanessa - 11/18/2009
I have wanderlust in that I want to move after living somewhere too long. I get too familiar with my house, and I get bored. I love watching HGTV and seeing all the houses I could move into. I don’t like when the excitement of a new house goes away.
When I was younger my family moved a lot (about 11 times in 18 years, about a year in each house until my parents bought the last house and I lived there for 7 years). I’m going to college now, so I’m able to quench my wanderlust more easily, since I live in apartments with my boyfriend. We moved from our first apartment to our current apartment in January, and now my wanderlust is definitely setting in. I have to wait until my boyfriend graduates in May before we can move, though, so my dreams of moving are just distracting me now.
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