*: Opportunity Costs

“The only thing more unthinkable than leaving was staying; the only thing more impossible than staying was leaving.”

― Elizabeth Gilbert, Eat, Pray, Love
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Opportunity Costs. A crumby business related degree, four years of my life that I will never get back, and fourty grand later... Wow. I am a rockstar. And this is pretty much the extent of which I learned... probably because it was the only business definition my itchy feeted self could apply to a desire to travel... that of: "opportunity costs."

With only five weeks until departure, my thoughts are a whirlwind. Already my emotions are a mix of frustration, fear, excitement, regret, curiosity. Why? Well, it all really comes down to this very concept: opportunity costs.

Ten years ago, a much younger version of myself found herself sitting in an introductory economics class. Here is what my younger self has chinese whispered to my present self:

" Opportunity cost is the cost of any activity measured in terms of the value of the next best alternative forgone (that is not chosen). It is the sacrifice related to the second best choice available to someone who has picked among several mutually exclusive choices.^"
Put more simply, the opportunity cost is also the "cost" (as a lost benefit) of the forgone products after making a choice.

For example, if I desired to watch each of two television programs being broadcast simultaneously, and did not have the means to make a recording of one, I could watch only one of the desired programs. Therefore, the opportunity cost of watching Dexter could be not enjoying the other program (such as Prison Break). If I record one program while watching the other, the opportunity cost will be the time that I spent watching one program versus the other. In a restaurant situation, the opportunity cost of eating a gourmet burger might be trying the pasta dish. The opportunity cost of ordering both meals could be twofold: the extra $20 to buy the second meal, and my reputation with my peers, as I may be thought of as greedy or extravagant for ordering two meals.

How in the name of god does this relate to our upcoming adventure you may ask? Heading out on the adventure of a lifetime, every day becomes a Saturday. Afternoons spent lazing at the beach, the ambition of the day being landing that perfect fruit smoothie, discovering a sixth sense with the plethora of sights, smells, and sounds, a nap in a flower garden, giggling with the local children and watching their faces light up when you take them to the nearby candy stand to buy them a treat their parents could never afford to buy them, partaking in local song and dance, checking in to new exotic rooms... lingering stress free days ahead.

But of course all of this comes with a price***. I know this. I have been here many times before. While leaving a life of routine and luxury for a world of mosquito nets and filth can be an invigorating and humbling experience... one never does truly forget the comforts of home that they have chosen to leave behind to make room for a backpack way of life and travel adventure. The costs as I see it:

1). My bed. I once described this beauty as a marshmallow heaven cloud. After three years spent rotating between an assortment of floor mats, closet air mattresses, and bunks, I remember feeling as though I had died and gone to heaven when I landed this beaut. She is beautiful, she has been good to me, always there for me, and three years later- I will miss her. Muah! She does not fit in Murkle, and so Cornwall will welcome her.

2). People, friends, roomates, a love/hate water bottle affair with a kitten named "Gretchen", a sledding down stairs ice cream eating partner from first year & a "little sister":

3). Papasan LOVE:

4). Rideau Canal. Good times. Bad times. Cold times. Good times. Who needs meditation or over priced gym memberships when you`ve got this at your front step?

5). Murkle. I hate her. She takes me to point A to B... and heck, I for the first time in my life, I don`t need to walk there. I love her. (ps. this was NOT my parking job! wahhh)

6). A Modern Bathroom. With proper modern toilet.... and sigh... gulp... sink!

7). Job Security. This is perhaps the scariest thing to throw to the wind. Times before, the jobs I had were ones that I would have gladly said adios to. This past month, I reached temporary status at work and have been enjoying weekly massages as a result. With a buffet of positions once at my fingertips, I turned a blind eye to them. Will they still be available to me when I get back? It dawned on me the other day that in two short weeks, the balance of my bank account is destined to only go in one direction from here on in... and that direction is down... eeeeek!