This comment was by Hell_on_Wheelz on the post “4 Ways Living in Another Country Will Change Your Life of the Better.”
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I had a bucket list at 17 years old. Diagnosed with an aggressive form of degenerative joint disorder- I was told that there was a wheelchair in my future. I had 3 decades to do what I wanted with the mobility I had.
So in the 70s when, as Tom says, the goal was a degree, wife, 2.5 kids and a white picket fence in the burbs – I bypassed college for later, threw some stuff in a backpack and set out to achieve my bucket-list goals.
I have lived in every state in the CONUS: met all sorts of VERY interesting and different people; did every sort of blue-collar and unskilled job out there.
The chair caught up with me in my mid 40s. In the decline of my physical abilities I went to college, got all the paper necessary to get a good job, and set to work doing the socially acceptable thing.
I have 8 years until I retire. It won’t be a lavish retirement but I learned to love living simply from my years on the move. If I had it all to do over again – I WOULD NOT CHANGE A THING.
Eventually in the end (with a little luck) we’ll all be old people sitting in a retirement home. Your cars, houses, possessions and even careers will not be as meaningful as the places you’ve been, the people you’ve met and the things you learned.
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photo: Digital Temi / flickr