There are 7.5 billion people on earth, 195 countries, 7 continents, a gazillion different versions of the Seven Wonders of the World, yet most of you will never experience more than one. Now that’s totally okay if you are okay with that, but if you even question it for a second, then listen up.

I’m a rather impulsive person. Likeeeee, the kind of person who could wake up at 11 a.m. and be on a coast by 4 o’clock. Mind you, I live in Nebraska... so if I can find a beach in 5 hours then there’s no room for excuses. But what I’ve found in the past few years, is that everyone is full of them. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I’m constantly paying for my dinner with nickels and dimes, and my idea of a shopping spree is finding as many $3.00 sales shirts as I can fit in my arms. But honey, we’re all broke, and if I waited around on y’all to have the money, then we’d be teleporting to different continents in the year 3000.

Anywho. I live by the life motto, “You are the sum of your experiences”. But there are a million other options for some inspiration such as: “Everybody dies, but not everybody lives,” or “It’s not the numbers on your gravestone that matter, it’s the dash in between,” or “Do more than just exist.” And people created these quotes for a reason: because almost everybody lets their bank account define their life, that, or their fear of the world. But let me tell you something. The world is a beautiful place and you might never get the chance to realize that for yourself if you don’t ever go out and experience it.

There are so many things to do in this life, and so many places to go. There are beautiful worlds under the sea that words cannot describe and the feeling of never being able to catch your stomach while jumping off of a building or out of a plane. There’s having a conversation only including five keywords and a lot of awkward smiling and nodding, learning a million ways to say thank you, experiencing the true beauty and peace of an animal, and staring for hours at God’s wonderful creations, as well as man-made creations, and making memories for yourself with the people that you love. Living life. Experiencing.

I travel a lot, and I itch to travel more. I complain about being broke all of the time, and a lot of people say to me “Well if you’re so broke then maybe you shouldn’t travel so much, or own so many horses.” And they may be right, but I’d be broke for the rest of eternity if it meant I got to touch down on every continent at least a dozen times. Life is short, so do what makes you happy. You never know when it might be your time to go. So if that means owning horses and buying plane tickets costs me a lot of money and causes me a little stress that’s okay, because nothing makes me happier than seeing a new place and trying a new thing. And why shouldn’t I do what makes me happy?

I think of life in terms of hours; hours spent, and hours wasted…crap, I better delete my Netflix history *cough* I haven’t watched every season of Grey’s Anatomy three times, *cough*

Hours spent are the hours where I grow as a person, learn, and/or do what I love. I’m uncomfortable with wasting my hours. I have no desire to do anything that demands no skill improvement from me, or any reach outside of my comfort zone. I don’t settle or deprive myself of the things that make me happy, and I don’t think too hard about every little thing. Seriously though, you’re broke and I’m broke, except I do what I love and buy a few less Diet Dr. Peppers every year, and you stay in your same town and work, sleep, repeat. (Again, if that’s what makes you happy, then by all means, have at it!)

I’m talking to all you lovelies out there who tell all your buddies that you’d love to go to Cancun or Europe if you could afford it. Just buy the damn ticket. Save the damn dollar from every Diet Dr. Pepper you wanna buy and put it in your #vacay jar like I do. NO really though, I take a small part out of every paycheck and put it in a jar. It’s such a small amount that I never even notice it’s missing. I never tap into the jar, not for emergencies or cute expensive boots, or $1200 saddles… never……….

And then once I have enough saved up, I go somewhere and I have some fun and I don’t hate myself when I get home and can’t afford new shoelaces for the shoes my new dog chewed up that I bought while I was in Mexico………

I said I was impulsive right?... I do what makes me happy. So I guess what I’m saying is, just live, don’t be afraid to do what you want in life, and save that money so that even if it takes you six years, you can buy yourself a trip to happiness and conquer the world.