Like many people our age, I suffer from a little thing called FOMO (otherwise known as the “Fear of Missing Out”). This fear is what drives me to sacrifice sleep to spend time with friends, binge-watch every show someone recommends to me on Netflix and attempt to check out handfuls of books every time I go the library — I want to experience it all.
Perhaps it was this fear that drove me to do Semester at Sea in the first place. 18 cities, 16 countries, 108 days. As a FOMO sufferer, it was an opportunity for growth and experience I simply couldn’t pass up.
But the thing about FOMO is: you never have enough time to do everything you want to do.
In the first two months of the voyage, I visited 11 countries. And when it came time to leave several of those countries, I had a hard time saying goodbye. Because Semester at Sea seeks to accomplish so much in the span of a semester, students only have a few days to spend in each port. In some places, this few days was enough. I felt like I saw and experienced everything I’d hoped to. But in many of these places, FOMO kicked in, and I yearned for just a day or two more to do that one thing I didn’t get the chance to.
I left Russia without attending the ballet. I missed out on pierogies (a traditional dish) in Poland. I made the decision to stay with the ship and not to travel to Krakow or Auschwitz in Poland or to Berlin in Germany, and I missed the cultural experiences that would have accompanied those trips. I spent most of my time in France at Disneyland Paris, which was only a slightly regrettable choice, because I had a great time, but I also sacrificed an opportunity to see more of the country. Not to mention, I left France without tasting French bread.
Though I’m sure you’ve figured this out by now, it can be hard attempting to immerse yourself in a country in only a few days. Each time I step into a new place, I remind myself: “You may never come back here again.” Sure, there are a couple places I loved and will hopefully return to one day. But the truth is, I may never get to experience ballet in Russia or taste pierogies in Poland, simply because I may never have the opportunity to return to those countries.
And that’s the beauty of Semester at Sea, and of FOMO in general. No, you can’t experience everything you want to experience, because there just isn’t enough time. You’re bound to miss out on something. But what’s important isn’t the amount of things you’ve missed out on; it’s the amount of things you were able to do.
Whether you’re reading one of the five books you checked out at the library or accomplishing only a few of the countless cultural experiences you’d hoped to have in a new country, you’re still experiencing something. You’re still learning something new and broadening your horizons in some way. And that’s what counts.