Dreaming Spontaneity

Yesterday I did a Facebook quiz that told me to guess the Disneyland attraction using the picture clues to guess the actual name of it. It was ridiculously difficult and I was determined to get it, but in the end after trolling the Disneyland attractions page on the Disneyland website (bad idea), I gave in and checked the comments for the answer. 

Unfortunately the exercise left me with a major hankering to go to Disneyland and check out the new rides, including the Little Mermaid ride that has opened since I was last there. I tried to laugh it off saying I couldn't afford it. I could. Then I tried to say I didn't have time. I have a week and a bit I could slip away for. My favourite LA hostel was available, a shop I wanted to raid was in Hollywood & Highland, and suddenly a spontaneous week's jaunt over to LA was looking like a feasible and exciting plan. I even had the next available flight out planned and had managed to factor in the both travel time and jetlag on the way back. 

What was stopping me? Visas? Didn't need one, I'm Australian. ESTA? Approved almost immediately. Suddenly I was in a tizzy, verging on hyperventilation at this amazing spontaneous trip I could totally do! No one would need me for a week, I could still make my hours at work at the end of the month. What was going to stop me?

In the end I was itching for my debit card on the Expedia page and waging war with myself. I wanted it so bad, but did that mean I should? Realistically popping over for a Disneyland/shopping trip to the City of Angels wasn't going to break my bank, it wasn't going to steal my time and it wasn't going to hit me up with anything too negative. It probably would have been like a spa day or similar in improving my self esteem (look at Sam being so spontaneous!), but just like my dream-love and favourite Sherrilyn Kenyon character would say "Just because you can, doesn't mean you should."

I don't really know what stopped me at the end of the frenzy. Maybe it was the concert I'm going to Friday night, or the afternoon tea on Wednesday, the casual catch ups with my friends, or maybe I just felt like going to work. But I put my card away and smiled thinking maybe I'll just go in a few months when I shimmy over to South America since I'll be there anyway. 

The important thing is adventure is never as out of reach as sometimes you are led to think, and being spontaneous can lead to opportunities or experiences you may not otherwise come across. You don't always have to go, sometimes the knowledge or the intention is enough, but be open to it. You never know where that sudden jolt of adventure will take you. 

Last night I dreamt I had a flight into Venice and two months before my return flight with nothing planned in between. Trust me, sometimes it pays to be spontaneous.

But for today, I'm not going to go to LA. I am going to keep telling Mum I am though; it drives her mad. 

Sam xox