What Are You Willing To Sacrifice?
One of the first things people ask me about our Japan adventure is how much it will cost. It’s usually the second question, immediately after why. Yes, Japan is going to be expensive; I haven’t even worked out the exact cost yet, and I might be in for a panic when I do, but it’s only one part of the equation.
Everything we do comes at a cost. Whatever we choose has taken away an opportunity to do something else.
One thing I’m sacrificing during this trip is the ability to take on more IT Consultancy work. Although that might balance out if I pick up some personal training clients. If I get lucky, I might receive sponsorship from a few companies that want me to mention their name, product, or simply out of goodwill, because a small amount of money to a company can still make a big difference on a trip like this. But overall, I’m not expecting to be anywhere close to breaking even with this trip.
What else am I missing out on? I’m not going to catch up with many friends while I’m in Japan, as most of them live on the other side of the world. My sister will be giving birth to her second child in October, but I won’t see the baby until Christmas. I know she’d love to have me around to help her in October, but that would mean delaying Japan until spring. Had I been living in the UK rather than Japan, I wouldn’t have been in Vietnam in October anyway. So yes, I know that my relationships are going to suffer a little.
But there are things I’m not willing to sacrifice.
If my run goes a little wrong, I’m not going to spend a few extra days in Japan ahead of making it back home for Christmas with the family. If something with my family goes terribly wrong, I’m not going to continue running ahead of supporting them. And I’m obviously not going to risk Joy’s safety on the trip. (My own, fine, but my support team’s, never!)
Why am I thinking about this? Partly because I’ve just spent £1000 on filming and running equipment, and partly because I haven’t trained enough this week. A big part of that is spending time with Joy’s family in China and Hong Kong. I managed to get 4-5 hours of running at the weekend, but nowhere near as much as I would have liked. When given a choice between a much-needed four-hour run tonight or a 2-hour bus trip and a couple of hours surrounded by people speaking a language I can’t understand, I’ve chosen the latter.
There’s so much on social media about how much you have to sacrifice, how you have to grind and let other aspects of your life suffer. And that’s true, to an extent. But I think that’s something that people use as an excuse.
It would be all too easy to have gone for that extra run, justifying that I needed it to make Japan work. And who knows, maybe in Japan I’ll be complaining that I didn’t quite get the perfect training routine in the months leading up to the run. But right now, I’m betting that the time I spent in Hong Kong and the time I’ll spend with my sister in Vietnam will mean more to me than a few extra hours running. Life is about chasing adventures, but it’s also about more than just chasing adventures.
