The Nevers

It's probably a hallmark of middle age (and half the time I try to ignore the fact that that really is where I am life-age-wise) to think about the things you'll likely not get to do.

This week I watched a documentary about the fast fashion industry (fashion that is not meant to last, build wise) and how much of the waste ends up in the ocean waters near Accra, the capital of Ghana.

And as I was watching this I was really struck by all the places in the world I will never get to visit.

And before you remind me that I could travel, I do know this, I have a friend right now who is travelling with her husband (both of them retired FWIW) to several countries on a trip and she has been to almost every continent so I am aware that travel is possible.

What I mean is even if I had the means to travel for the rest of my life it is not possible for me to go everywhere.  Even if I tried to travel to every country or every continent you just can not go everywhere.

As a small example, I have lived in this town for most of my life now (weird but true) and there are roads I have never driven down or walked down.  There are routes I take and tend to stick to and some I have not yet explored, even in my neighbourhood.

I haven't gone inside the cool house I pass on that one street.

I haven't even visited that weird looking store across the street from the store I go to all the time.  

Now expand that to the entirety of the world and I just... there are so so so many places I will never ever get to see.

Travelling all of the countries of the continent of Africa would be quite a feat, and you'd still not see everything or everyone or everywhere.

I have to admit now that there are places I probably won't ever go and that makes me sad.

Not, perhaps, sad enough to try to pinch my pennies to save up to go but sad nonetheless.

Even hitting all the "well known" tourist favoured type places probably won't happen.

I don't want to sit here and list all the places I likely won't go and might like to, that's just tears waiting to happen, but I realized this as I watched this part of this documentary in Ghana.  So many places I will never get to see.

Even if I try.