FOMO, or Fear of Missing Out, is exactly what it sounds like. The fear of regret…of making the wrong choices or not obtaining the same levels of psychological satisfaction that your peer group (or whoever you define as “everyone”).

So what leads me to my own FOMO?

I collect postcards. Part of my collection can be seen in the header above, some are posted in my bedroom, and some are still stored. Part of my Valentine’s Day gift was a postcard from Z from South Africa (inscribed he had flown all the way to SA and back just to get me that card for V-Day – hehehe). This means that the only two continents I am missing are Antarctica and Australia, so I made an all-call post on fb to the people I know who regularly go to Antarctica for work and hopefully someone who knew someone else in Australia. I then got the following comment:

Now I don’t know whether this was meant in an ugly way, but it sort of jabbed me in a
sore spot, right in the FOMO. I love going to new places and on adventures, but I haven’t been able to make a big trip in the last few years because of monetary reasons. This isn’t meant to imply I’ve never done anything ever – I’ve been to Canada and several states…but aside from local travel (to Natchitoches, New Orleans, and last summer, Texas), I have a music festival in Florida in May and a wedding to attend in Colorado in June to look forward to. I really would like to travel to another continent and be the one choosing my own postcards and racking up stamps in my passport. I guess the implication of the comment (what I felt) was “Travel and get your own damn postcards you inauthentic butthole!” I am fairly certain that isn’t what she meant, but it still made me feel sad.

When I look around my living room, I have three world maps, a United States map, a wooden sign that says “Choose your Own Adventure” and a wooden sign with a space shuttle painted on that says “Adventure Awaits!” It’s very clear that I’ve been infected by the travel bug.

To be honest, I have two fears. There’s the fear of missing out and the fear of instability. I’m in no way financially stable right now, so who would I be to dedicate that kind of money to travel…but at what point does waiting become more harmful than helpful? I’m not sure how to reconcile these feelings and fears. I also want to pursue a Master’s degree, so that’s money right there…plus my consumer debt and the student debt that already exists. I know my adventure awaits…I just have to figure out how to fund it and how much I’m willing to spend for experience…and how much it would cost me if I didn’t gain these memories at all…