They say, 30 is the new 20. I say 40 is the new 20, but I'm immature. I was reflecting on the fact, and writing this post, as I'm taking one of my far too many breaks from packing for burning man. The first time we went to burning man, Liz was the only one out of the 4 of use who went who had a job, I spent the last of my savings, and some money I borrowed from my parents, on renting the minivan, which we dubbed "Old Faithful".
Liz had some gas money, and we had all of our food, but we were tight. I remember spending our last 7 bucks on a buy one get one free pack of Camels, in the liquor store across from the Zeitgeist in SF. We were, in a word, nuts.
The only reason we ever got home was because of the generosity of Kim's parents, and the poor/good decision they made to give Kim their credit card, in case anything went wrong. Oh, it did. We were idiots.
This year, I have one credit card which has more money available, than we ever had before on the way to Burning Man. Then I have another credit card that's virtually empty, then, in case we have to, say, buy a new car or something, we have a savings account... I'm not saying we could get a nice car, but we could get home...
It's a comforting feeling. It may not be quite as much fun, in a weird "bet the farm" kinda way, but it's nice. I think that is what growing up is all about. It's not about mortgages, or kids, or responsibilities. It's the trade-offs you make so that you're sure, when you do something crazy, you're self-sufficient enough to get out of it on your own.