Your remembering self will thank you

and the Galapagos Islands. Making this trip had been on my list of one hundred dreams, and I was excited to see this amazing landscape and the animals that inspired Charles Darwin and changed people's understanding of the natural world.

It was also not a low stress trip. Traveling with seven people internationally is never easy, nor is getting to remote islands in the Pacific, or living out of a small suitcase for nine days, or even dealing with logistics of needing to brush your teeth with bottled water and the like. On the other hand, we saw some amazing wildlife. I was able to be quite close to giant Galapagos tortoises.

I kayaked right over white tipped reef sharks. I saw Iguanas, sea lions, blue footed boobies, amazingly colorful crabs, and of course those finches with their famously changing beaks. Now that I am home and on the other side and sleeping in my own bed, I'm happy I did it. Even if there was a fair amount of anxiety before and during the trip, My remembering self is happy we did the Galapagos adventure. Waking up at three am in Kito to catch a flight back to Miami is just a

blip in the memory. And I love seeing my photos of those tortoises. So it goes with many things. While big chosen adventures are often challenging in the moment and can inspire some anxiety beforehand, once you are on the other side, you will probably be happy to have done them. So as you are considering things that are slightly outside your comfort zone, you might try thinking about your remembering self. Picture yourself on the other side of this adventure. You

have given that speech to a giant audience. You have done a live interview on national TV. You have taken five children on an international trip. Picture yourself looking back on the memories. You are looking through your photos. You are telling people about the adventure. You are back in your comfort zone now, having stepped outside it earlier, because guess what what eventually you will be to that place.

Time keeps passing no matter what we do. I knew during my Ecuador and Galopagos trip that in a certain number of days I would most likely be back home. I would be sleeping in my own bed and brushing my teeth with tap water. It was just up to me to make memories in the meantime that my future self could look back on. So I did, and now I can recount them in life. It is easier to give a lot of consideration to our experiencing selves whatever

it is we are doing in the moment. A trip like my Galapagos one is a lot more stressful for an experiencing self than say, going to stay at a hotel in Florida for a few days, and that trip would be more stressful than staying at home and relaxing. But while relaxing is nice, it doesn't tend to generate as many memories. The days since I came home for my trip have gone so much far faster than my time on the trip. As I write this, I'm like, Wow,

it's already been a week. Making memories expands time and doing things outside our comfort zones is one way to create memories. So think about your remembering self, not just your experiencing self. If your experiencing self can get your head around doing cool things, your remembering self well. Thank you looking back on the memories you created in the meantime. This is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making the most of our time. Thanks for listening to Before Breakfast.

If you've got questions, ideas, or feedback, you can reach me at Laura at Laura vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartMedia. For more podcasts from iHeartMedia, please visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.