When “Someday” Finally Becomes Now: The Psychology of Postponing Life Decisions A Conversation About Time Twenty years ago I travelled through South America. Not in the comfortable, packaged way. It was dusty buses, unpredictable routes, conversations in broken Spanish, long stretches of deserts and silence. I came back changed, though I couldn’t quite explain how. I remember sitting with a close friend after I returned. He was the kind of man who disappeared into wilderness every year. Forests, mountains, deserts — he collected landscapes the way others collect watches. “So where are you going next?” he asked me. “I don’t have the time right now,” I said. “And not enough money. I’ll do it when I retire.” He looked at me for a moment. “You’ll be old then,” he said calmly. “And old age isn’t romantic. It’s limitations, illness, less strength.” He wasn’t dramatic. Just factual. I knew he was right. And yet I didn’t go anywhere. Years passed. Work expande...