The motivationator

When I was in my last year of law school, I had a countdown calendar to graduation, affectionately nicknamed "The Motivationator." I desperately needed something, anything, to keep me motivated to trudge on in those waning days of bitterness and malaise. Counting down the days motivated me. As a post-higher education adult, I must ask myself, what motivates me now? I have decided that planning awesome vacations motivates me. Maybe I should have been a travel agent. Planning our post-bar European vacation definitely carried me through those dark, dark months of bar preparation. And now, our next destination is Hawaii. And why not? We live on the West Coast, making travel to and from the islands (comparatively) cheap and (relatively) easy. As I try to keep my cool with never ending paperwork and ever present needy clients, I find that all I need to do is take a mental break and envision myself lazing on the beach or scuba diving at the reef, and presto. Will to live: restored. I think the planning is almost as fun as the vacationing itself. As part of our preparations for this trip, I have to get my open water diving certification, which is another fun thing to counterbalance the less fun aspects of being a grown up. I can't wait!! I have to say, tapping the savings account for a purpose other than paying down student loans is a most inviting prospect. 9 months to go. Let the counting down begin.