Even if you have enough money, you don't have enough time to get all you want.

And this is fine! Let me tell you why.

Even if you consider your 50 being the new 30 (like I do), you realize that there are toooo many wonders on Earth you are aware of, and you also know that it's physically impossible to experience them all.

Let's accept it as a fact and change the angle of view. Let the problem be its solution ;)

I know a few people who decided to visit all countries on the planet. Many of them succeeded. It's not that hard, especially when your budget allows you to travel all the time. You know them, read their online diaries, watched videos on YouTube. Some are pretty interesting, but most of them are boring. Either there is nothing to wonder about, or it looks like any other similar places on Earth, or you just feel it — it’s not YOURS. So, put a new pin on a map and leave the next day.

Does the experience worth it? Can I brag among my friends that I've been to Austria if it was just a 30-minute connection flight and I didn't even leave Vienna airport?

So, at some point, I realized that I don't want to visit all countries on the planet. But I definitely want to visit some places again and again that are MINE.

For example, I love Ibiza, and during 2013–2018, I spent a whole September there, coming for a month from Moscow (I call it summer extended). I didn't party hard, lived in the old town, explored the island with my camera, and was just overwhelmed with a feeling that this is MY PLACE. There are two more Balearic Islands nearby, but I never wanted to go there — just didn't feel I wanted to!

Of course, you might say: there are still way more places worth visiting than you can see in your entire life — how can you know what's yours if you’ve never been there?

Here is how.

1. Be modest. Yes, you can't. Deal with it.
2. Use Google Maps Street View.

There is a movie I really liked, "Werk Ohne Autor", about a young German artist who escaped East Germany, moved to the West, and learned art in the academy. One day, when it was time to show his work to the professor, he proudly demonstrated circles painted on a floor, torn canvas, and some other stuff. The professor looked at him and asked: "In art, it's important to understand, WHAT ARE YOU?"

I remember, for a long time, while I visited museums — any of them — I thought the goal was to see as many paintings, sculptures, etc., as possible. Until one day, I realized: it's not about that! You can come to the gallery, find YOUR painting, and spend the rest of the day in front of it, not even paying attention to others. And if there is nothing that’s worth your attention (which doesn't mean they're bad — they're just NOT YOURS) — leave and spend this time on a fresh air!

Here is the New Year coming. New Hope, New Life, New Future. I wish all of you to find WHAT'S YOURS if you haven't yet, of course. And if you did — keep exploring it!