For those of us who love to travel, we may have already figured this out, but I didn’t always know that experiences will always be more valuable than stuff until I got rid of everything I owned and moved to Argentina. After that, I was hooked. I realized that I didn’t miss my tv, appliances, rugs, collection of antiques I had acquired or my bookcase full of books I’d already read ,or never would. I was living out of 2 suitcases full of clothes, a few dvds, my laptop, and just a couple inspiring nature photos for decorating my new place.
I spent my days exploring the city, visiting beautiful parks and museums and coming home empty handed every day – but my mind was fulfilled and I became more and more proud of how worldly I was becoming just by visiting things like the Japanese Gardens and Museum of Modern Art. Spending $10 to see a painting by Frida Khalo? Absolutely worth it. Petting resident cats at the Botanical Gardens? Adorable and priceless. Had I went shopping instead and bought nothing but Argentine fashion, trinkets and overpriced food I would have regretted my time there, but I instead came back more educated and with far more stories.
You don’t need to travel halfway across the world to get experiences. Go for a hike or local museum, find out about talks happening at the local library by authors, learn about the geology or history of your city and be an expert! You’ll be proud of yourself and much more fulfilled than if you merely buy clothes and hang out in shops with your spare time. You’ll also find that in many cases you’ll save money, then, you can spend that money on a ticket to someplace halfway across the world!
