First World Problems

It’s been 3 months since my last entry. I wasn’t planning to stop blogging when I stopped traveling, but I also wasn’t planning on being without computer!

Ironically, my computer went missing not during my 8 months of backpacking and roadtripping adventures, but during my return trip back to Canada. Exhausted after a long day of aiports and time-zone roulette, I slept like a log during my last leg of the journey on a flight from Vancouver to Toronto. Almost everyone else had already disembarked the plane when I awoke from my snooze. Half asleep and in a hurry to disembark, I left my beloved Macbook under the seat of 52A. FAIL. When I called the airline an hour later to claim it and have them keep it aside for me, it was gone. Poof. No laptop was recovered. I proceeded to call the airline everyday for the next 3 weeks hoping it would turn up. Nothin’. Gone forever. Probably claimed by a dishonest airline employee cashing in on thier turn of Finders, Keepers. That was a pretty tough pill to swallow. The laptop itself can be replaced — the hard part was losing everything stored on it. All of my cherised travel photos, music, and writing, including my digital travel journaling — gone forever. I know what you’re thinking — didn’t I have any of it backed up? Unfortunately and irresponsibly, no I did not. Lesson learned: DO back up your valued digital storage, and also DON’T leave your valuables behind!

The bigger lesson here, though, which is the topic of this entry, is the importance of recognizing when you’re suffering from a first world problem.

Ah, first world problems. I’ve been having a lot of them lately, and it’s easy enough to become dispirited by it all. It started with the laptop loss. Well actually, it started with me happily spending all my savings on New Zealand adventues and then dipping into credit and bank loan, but I digress. Anyway, shortly after arriving back home, I discovered my car was not drivable until it could get many major[expesnive] repairs done. I decided it would be wiser to try and sell the old junker and get a new, more reliable vehicle. Until I could afford a new car, I was borrowing one. Naturally, the borrowed vehicle broke down while I had it. Soon after finally getting a new (used) car, I was rear-ended by a texting-behind-the wheel teenaged multitasker. We’re talking bad whiplash, trunk busted shut, several hundred dollars worth of damage [thankfully, at the expense of the driver at fault]. At the time of the accident, my smartphone was broken so I couldn’t even call for help! By this point I was looking up to the sky with my hands in the air, half crying and half laughing, asking WHY ME!? Throughout all of these unfortunate events, I had also been playing phone tag with my seemingly incompetent cable company who charged me for two weeks-worth of internet and cable use that we did not have access to because, well, in sum — my cable company sucks. Theft sucks, debt sucks, motor vehicles suck, car accidents suck, technology sucks, smartphones suck. Sometimes it feels like LIFE sucks.

After a month at home, I already wished I was back on another globe trotting adventure with my backpack instead of stuck at home with ample debt and all the first world problems a girl could ask for. Laptop gone, old car down, borrowed car down, new car almost-down, smartphone down, cable and internet fails — all topped off with a healthy dose of travel debt and a ripening resentment towards the “troubles” in my comfortable, routinely first-world life.

Which brings me, finally, to my point — life is good! First-world problems often get in the way of appreciating just how easy we have it — I’ve been facing all of these problems BECAUSE I have such a luxurious life — I have a laptop, I have a car, I have money (somtimes). When I don’t have money I have access to money on credit or loan. I always have at least some food in my fridge and a warm place to sleep at night. I have a smartphone. I have a car. I have cable television and unlimited internet access (most of the time, that is!). These are all material things that I don’t really need anyway — I also have a whole tribe of friends and family to lean on when things go wrong, which they inevitably do every now and again. In this particular case, it all happened at once! Bummer. But, oh well. Moral of the story? Shit happens. C’est la vie. Get over it. Appreciate what you have. And, always remember that there are millions of people — billions actually, that have it worse than you do.

After briefly mourning the loss of my beloved Macbook, I decided it could actually be good for me to unplug for a little while. Granted, most of my hobbies are made easier with access to the internet or a computer (music, writing, blogging). But still. Just go with it, I said to myself. So here I am two months later, using my roomate’s laptop to update my blog! I decided that a new laptop is not a financial priority right now. Instead, I’m working two jobs to try and pay off my debt and my new car, which gets me where I need to go even with a massive dent on it’s rear end. I’m massage therapy for my whiplashed body, my smartphone is fixed, and I resolved all the issues with the cable company. Ta daaaa!

Are YOU having a bad day? A bad week? A bad month, maybe? Guess what — I’ve been there. We all have, probably. Take a step back, a deep breath, and figure out how you can make it better. Maybe there’s nothing you can do to change a crummy situtaiton you’re in. If that’s the case, then try changing the way you think about it — mindset is everything! Cultivate a habit of positive thinking. Take it from me — it makes everything easier and a whole lot more pleasant! Life’s too short to waste it complaining about first world problems.