Finish this sentence: If I won the lottery…
Let’s presume that “winning the lottery” translates to millions of dollars. We’re not talking a few scratch-offs, right? We’re talking double-digit millions.
First, my family members, dearest friends, and church would be debt free and each would have a padded savings account. A smattering of children I know would have substantial trusts set up in their names. My parents would live out the rest of their lives doing whatever they want to do. Money would be donated to specific agencies that helped children and animals. Chuck would retire, and then…
…we’d be off. Everywhere. All the places.
First, Europe. All of it. Everywhere I went as a child, every city I want to experience with my family, like Heidelberg:
We would be that hipster traveling, homeschooling family who showed our kids the ruins and old stone pathways instead of just reading about them in books. We’d learn languages and culture and eat ourselves through each country. We’d conquer castles and daydream about what it must have been like to be King Ludwig II.
When I think about winning the lottery, there’s nothing I think about buying other than plane tickets. Once our circle of influence was taken care of and we’d made substantial donations to organizations that are meaningful to us, I’d hire a long-term travel agent and put him or her to work. We’d be a family of eternal wanderlusts. Our home base would be East Tennessee and we’d spend plenty of time in the States, but our passports would be well-used and our children would become citizens of the world.
Of course, to win the lottery, one has to play it.