You Picked a Fine Time
Posted by Pete Robbins on Mar 18th 2020
If your goal is to “time the market,” I’m not your guy.
My wife and I just set up a website devoted to “dream trips” and “travel hacks,” right before the rise of a global pandemic that has many of us housebound and most travel curtailed. That same virus threatens to result in an economic recession. Even if the economy on the whole does not crater, the travel side of it is susceptible to all sorts of shocks. There will quite likely be major changes to all sorts of outfitters, lodges, hotels and of course airlines. Some will not survive.
But if the goal is to “keep the dream alive,” then you need to stick with me, kid, because the website isn’t going anywhere.
Hanna and I haven’t built much in our web space yet, but the psychological foundation is firmly established. This is what we’re committed to: enjoying the most, and most diverse set of fishing experiences that we can.
I recognize that the COVID-19 is going to result in some tragedy – indeed, it already has – and I don’t mean to overlook or downplay that, but I do take inspiration from our current predicament. As I’ve reckoned with turning 50 over the past month, I’ve looked back at the many opportunities that I’ve lost earlier in life and I’ve vowed not to repeat those mistakes. The real threat of losing our way of life has forced me, as 9/11 should have, to focus on what really matters to me.
Part of that is fishing travel.
I am glad that I realized before it was too late how much I enjoy all of this, and I’ve certainly managed to see some incredible places, but I want more.
I want to go to the Seychelles and to Guyana and to Clear Lake and back to Alaska, and this has reinforced my resolve to do so. That’s not just words. It’s about taking proactive steps to make those things happen, and it’s also about recognizing that circumstances are fleeting. COVID-19 may go away sooner rather than later, but that doesn’t mean there won’t be other limitations on fulfilling my bucket list items. If the Seychelles go away, or Clear Lake falls into the ocean, that’s not an excuse for inaction. Rather, I’ll just need to refocus.
There’s never a good time for a disaster, but if I have to live through one, I’m trying to use at as a tool to demonstrate the need to live every day with purpose and a reasonable amount of urgency.
