My wife and I recently finished a 3-week trip to Europe. Not only did we have fun and create memories together, but we also learned more about ourselves. Here is what I took away.

I DON’T want to travel non-stop for too long again

When I was younger, my goal was to earn enough money, retire early and travel around the world with my wife. It sounds cliche, but it was what I had planned for years. After the recent trip; though, I found myself uncertain of such a plan.

Don’t get me wrong. I felt very lucky and privileged to be able to travel for fun. However, towards the end of the trip, I longed for home. I longed for the homely feeling of spending the evening with my wife and my cats. I longed for the home-cooked meals. And I actually longed for interacting with people in my office.

I realized that my original plan of retiring early and traveling every day might be premature and naive, and might not be something that I would enjoy. If I already had those feelings after just 3 weeks, what woud it be like when I had all the time in the world?

Coincidentally, I ran across news articles on Adrian Newey wanting to join another F1 team after leaving Red Bull, where he has been working for 25 years. Adrian, 65, said that he did not want to retire because some people he knew felt lost after hanging it up early. It really made me think that I might feel lost too.

It’s an eye-opener for me. This is the first time I had such a long trip. When I went back to Vietnam, it was to see my family. This time, it was constantly on the road for 3 weeks and I found out such a lifestyle might not be for me.

Health. Health. Health.

We walked 10 miles a day for 3 straight weeks. We climbed 400-450 stairs in one go. We dragged heavy luggage to the 4th floor through a small staircase. We walked and stood without resting for hours.

We could do all those things because we are still young and healthy enough. What if we were older or had health problems? We constantly caught each other in the eye and said that our parents would not enjoy what we did because of their health problems.

Our experience reaffirmed two things. First, health is gold. We need to work on our health every day NOW so that we even have a chance at doing what we did at old age. We already eat relatively healthy and exercise regularly, but it’s not enough. We need to do more. Even then, we can’t guarantee anything 30 years from now, but what other choice do we have?

The second affirmation is that there is a window for everything in life. We did a self-guided vespa tour in Tuscany. It was a little stressful with the Italian drivers and traffic. Would we be able to do the same at 65? Would it be better to experience physically demanding stuff now or at old age? We realized that we would need to sit down and plan together what we want to do at what age.

Most important thing

When we were at Roman Forum, our tour guide told us where Julius Ceasar was buried. I couldn’t tell you how disappointing it was to see it. It was just a pile of dirt with some momentos on top and grass. Had the guide not told us it was Julius Ceasar, we would not have paid much attention to it.

Imagine a guy as famous as him being buried like that. Even if we are famous or rich, in the end, we will all go back to our creator and be buried somewhere. Years from now, few actually care about us.

I am not saying that we should not try pursuing our dream or generating wealth. There is nothing wrong with that. What I am saying is that understanding in the end we likely all will be just a pile of dirt puts things in perspective. At least for me, it makes me place an even more importance on spending time with those I love.