Sunk Cost

When I was almost 2, to get me off the baby bottle, all my mom had to tell me was "You are not drinking from your bottle anymore... beginning tomorrow." And I stopped. Some kids would throw a tantrum and need more pushing than that -- like hiding the bottles, or mixing hot pepper with the milk in the bottle. All I needed was for her to tell me that I'm not getting it anymore. I didn't argue, and so I let go of the bottle and switched to kiddie cups.

That memory made me realize something about myself -- that I can easily let go. It doesn't matter if I've had my bottle for almost 2 years, all I needed was some self-convincing and I can move on to other things. I understood what "sunk costs" meant at a very young age, and it carries on to this day.

The author at almost 1

Travel Bug

A lot of people pay good money for material things – purses, clothes, cars, sofas, etc. That’s perfectly okay, it’s their guilty pleasure! So what, right? My guilty pleasure is travel. Yes, I love to travel -- so sue me.

Thanks to my parents, I got bitten by the travel bug back when I was very young. This explains how I’ve been to 107 cities and 24 countries at age 27 (peaking during my early 20s). Some of them I’ve been multiple times. I just can’t stay put in one place, I need to get away every so often. My hobby is looking at Google Maps and checking off places I’ve never been to yet, and looking at flights/hotels to see if it’s within budget. As soon as I arrive from a trip, I immediately plan the next one. It’s terrible, I know. It’s not even good for the environment (carbon footprint check).

So far this year, I’ve been to Manila (twice), St. Maarten, Anguilla, Maui and Tokyo. For the rest of the year through January, there’s Montana, San Francisco (twice), Dayton, Manila (again!), Las Vegas and possibly Prague. Thank goodness my husband is with me on this expensive passion. I’ve been lucky enough to have jobs that allow me to indulge in these travels. However, if I calculate the amount of vacation days I accumulate, I’d still say it’s never enough, but I make do with it. Which means David and I need to make our trips shorter, and take more Ambien to get over jetlag faster (think arriving at 1:00am from a 30-hour flight, and back at work at 8:30am).

The Sagrada Familia, Barcelona, Spain

Spice market, Marakkech, Morocco

Cape of Good Hope, South Africa

The Ritz Carlton, Maui, Hawaii

Plastic sushi in Asakusa, Tokyo, Japan

Someday I know I will need to slow down, the amount of savings we’d get for not traveling for a year can equate to a down payment for a house, or college tuition fee for a year. This makes me nervous because I know someday our priorities will change -- house, babies and all that – which means traveling would have to take a backseat. But in the meantime, I just let the travel bug bite me hard.

So what’s your guilty pleasure?

Some Things Never Change

I was chatting with my old boss yesterday - the "nice" boss who didn't know anything about running a business --which frustrated our team. 

The last time I saw him was before I left for grad school in New York, well over 3 years ago. We caught up about work, life, love and travels. He told me, "You are still the same Pam, who loves to travel all over the world." 

He may not know anything about running a business, but he definitely knew his people. And that made me smile.

Being An Adult

I just finished watching Baby Borrowers on TV and realized that I may not yet be half the adult that I should be.

Until I have a baby, I don't think my patience will have been tested yet. Right now, it's stressful enough to work at a full-time job, have a social life and manage a small apartment. But what if David and I finally live in a bigger place, have kids, have a social life and have full-time jobs -- and no yayas! Notice social life mentioned twice? :) All I can say is super moms and dads deserve gold medals and a lifetime of love and care from their kids.