I’m the type of person who’s going to ugly cry on the day of my kids’ weddings. I’ve known since the day my first child was born. But even then, I knew I’d rather cry in gratitude over all the cool memories we created than in regret over the things I missed out on.
Which is why I’m so glad Kim and I made it a priority early on to become hoarders.
It seems that everyone hoards something. Some people hoard stuff. Some people hoard money.
We are memory hoarders.
Rather than fill our home with stuff, we’d rather fill our lives with adventures.
Which one are you? When an unexpected $100 appears in your life, what’s your first impulse about where it should go?
When we have extra money after living expenses, some of it goes into savings, but the rest goes into experiences. I think back fondly to one summer when the kids were little, when we…
- Went to a bubble-blowing flash mob.
- Took the kids fishing with Grandpa.
- Hosted a summer cookout for our family.
- Went to a Madison Mallards baseball game and a month later, watched a fireworks show from the outfield.
- Saw a flick at the drive-in movie theater.
- Toured the Milwaukee Public Museum and learned about butterflies and dinosaurs and Native Americans.
- Played at Bay Beach amusement park in Green Bay.
- Spent a week in Galena, Illinois, with my family, where we swam, played pool, and rolled down a huge hill overlooking the river.
- Helped Lucy run her first Lemonade Stand to raise money for Kindermusik.
- Ate 18-inch corn dogs and sat awestruck at acrobats from Africa at the Wisconsin State Fair.
- Enjoyed an exciting performance by the Mad City Water Ski Team.
Many of them were completely free. Others cost money. But here’s the thing: At the time, we didn’t have cable. We only had one car. We rarely bought new clothes or appliances or DVDs or any other thing that could be labeled as “stuff.” In fact, we were often selling old stuff so we could have more money for experiences.
To this day, as soon as we finish one adventure, we’re already plotting our next one.
Will Dean, co-founder of the Tough Mudder endurance event series, sums up our attitude perfectly: “Experience is the new luxury. Unlike an iPhone, which depreciates over time, memories and experiences actually appreciate over time.”
Nowhere is this more evident than with the screensaver on our TV. It pulls our photos from the cloud and places them into a slideshow. Our most recent adventures, displayed in hi-def. It makes us feel incredibly rich.
On Lucy’s wedding day, I have no doubt that I will be proud and grateful to have been a memory hoarder.
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