According to a Time article, health insurance companies around the world do just that. They put a value on human life and put simply, “insurance companies calculate that to make a treatment worth its cost, it must guarantee one year of “quality life” for $50,000 or less. New research, however, would argue that that figure is far too low.”

“Stanford economists have demonstrated that the average value of a year of quality human life is actually closer to about $129,000. To get to that number, Stefanos Zenios and his colleagues at Stanford Graduate School of Business used kidney dialysis as a benchmark. Every year dialysis saves the lives of hundreds of thousands of Americans who would otherwise die of renal failure while waiting for an organ transplant.”

“Assigning a dollar figure to Medicare patients’ lives may sound crass, but such valuations are routine in Americans’ daily lives. Take, for example, the $500,000 death benefit the government pays families when a soldier is killed in Iraq or Afghanistan. Or the cost calculations that for-profit health insurers make to determine how much coverage they’ll give customers.”

So who comes up with these cost benefit calculations? Is it even right that we can have faceless multinational institutions putting arbitary values on a human life?

Copyright 4EvaYoung.com.

I readily admit that I’m no expert in any topic I discuss on this blog, so it has been a real joy to read your comments and emails from my faithful readers. Keep them coming. So as this blog celebrates it’s “First Birthday”, I wanted to put together my top 7 posts of all time. Enjoy!

8 Money Secrets From Warren Buffett

If you have never heard of Buffett, Forbes currently ranks him as the third richest man in the world and he is arguably the world’s greatest investor. He has amassed his fortune by making astute investment decisions and investing in businesses. Read Warren Buffett’s Money Secrets.

Interview With Erik Trinidad - The Global Trip

From October 2003 to March 2005, Erik traveled on a continuous sixteen-month trip around the world, blogging each day with his detailed and sometimes humorous style of storytelling. The blog, which has received over 75,000 unique hits from a global audience, originally began as a small on-line journal for a few family and friends, but evolved into an Internet phenomenon.

How To Get Yourself Out of Debt

Snowballing consumer spending has resulted in more families than ever drowning in debt. Consumer debt has now exceeded $2 trillion, reports the Federal Reserve Board and this figure is growing by the minute. According to a recent USA Today article about debt, 78 percent of baby boomer’s have mortgage debt, 59 percent have credit card debt, 56 percent have car payments. So if you’re losing the battle to keep up with the cost of living and are tempted with the abundance of easy credit than bear this thought in mind, three out of five American families can’t pay off their credit cards each month.

What I Wish I Knew When I Was Younger

As a child you are dependent on advice from adults to guide and keep you safe. As we get older we realize that most adults are just trying to find their way through life as we are in ours. Listen to your own small voice within to guide you even in the face of all objections.

Your path to sanity, happiness and fulfillment depends on your courage to find your voice and to act on it at every opportunity. Those who truly have your best interest at heart, who love you unconditionally will eventually get over it. They want what is best for you. Remember you are never going to please everyone. It is a futile endeavour to think otherwise and the only real casualty is yourself.

Are You Willing To Pay The Price To Fulfill Your Dream

There is a growing obsession towards the mindless accumulation of riches, fame and power. It’s a travesty that there are people who know more about the lives of celebrities then they do about those who are truly making a difference in the world. If your highlight of the week is reading about another celebrity self imploding then it’s time to get a real life. It’s time to revitalize that childish wonder that is in all of us, that need to find meaning in our lives and have a purpose for our existence. Here are some ways to get your life positioned to enable you fulfill your dreams.

Why Firing Your Worst Friends Could Be The Best Investment You Ever Made

Whether it’s in a business environment or personal life, relationships are the key to longevity and overall health. You want to foster and maintain good relationships. You can’t possibly do that to your best ability if you are constantly having to tend to low value friends who drag you down, attack your self worth, wear you out or just aren’t supportive with your life choices or direction. So as Donald Trump would say in his once popular TV show “Apprentice” - “Your fired!”. Here are the type of friends that deserve to get shown the door.

Top 10 Travel Tips From My Favourite Travel Blogs

Traveling can be such a daunting experience especially being away from friends and family for an extended period of time. Being exposed to new smells, scenery and customs. While it’s liberating and exciting it can also be a huge learning curve as you attempt to adjust. So as I prepare for my impending trip, I’m mindful of the fact that I have limited travel experience and so what better way to learn then from those who’ve traveled before me. Here are some of my favorite tips I’ve come across to date:

Copyright 4EvaYoung.com.

Like many i still remember that day, I got woken up by a friend in the early morning and was told that something “big” was happening in New York. I didn’t think anything of it at the time and went back to sleep. Then I get here to New York and everyone has their own personal account as its a day that has been forever etched into their memory. Some New Yorkers have been brave enough to share their story with me, and it’s humbling to listen to them every time. Sometimes we find peace and comfort knowing that our loved ones memories are kept alive, and it is with that thought in mind that I share these stories with you, “lest we forget”.

Spending time in a Benedictine monastery one of the monks wore a NYFD t-shirt during the afternoons when we were working. So one day I asked him about the t-shirt. Turned out he was a firefighter in New York for 20 years. On 9-11 his shift had finished and was almost home when he got called back to the firehouse. When he got there the second tower collapsed. He worked tirelessly, day and night, to try and rescue his “family” who were inside the towers when they collapsed. When it turned from a rescue operation to a body recovery operation he continued to work on the site for months.

Only 137 bodies were recovered from the World Trade Center site. Of the nearly 3000 victims most were only identified through DNA evidence based from body parts recovered and some 1200 victims have not yet been found. The back of his shirt lists the names of the men whose lives were lost “doing their job” that morning.

A woman whose youngest son worked on Tower 2 remembers when word reached that a plane had just flown into the building went into panic as her son worked there. She tried calling her son but to no avail, when she reached her eldest son he informed her that he had just spoken with the youngest and told him to get out of the building. When Tower 2 collapsed the first of the twins to collapse the family held out hope that he had gotten out in time.

When hours went by and no news came through they went to all the hospitals and shelters and set up, as many families did, poster campaigns. As the days went by they began to face reality. Shock, disbelief, panic, anxiety, grief turned into anger and hatred. She told me she never understood hatred until 9-11 and admits that to this day it’s still a daily struggle. Fifty five alumni from his high school died that day, 12 from the same graduating class. They set up a foundation in his name and have raised over $2 mil which has been distributed to worthy causes.

Unless you were there, you probably can’t imagine how difficult the aftermath of the attacks were, the subways and transport systems were shut down, communications were down so cellphones weren’t working and people were on the streets panicking that America was under attack. People who worked in Manhattan like my aunt had to walk home that day and imagine the whole time worrying about whether your loved ones are okay.

One cop who worked for the NYPD was actually at the WTC site during the 1993 underground bombing and was one of the coordinators of the rescue operation for 9-11. Like the thousands of rescue workers and volunteers the clearing of the WTC site was dangerous and slow. Body parts were being taken out in buckets every day and the toxic fumes and particles in the air has meant that many of the rescue workers like her now suffer debilitating respiratory illnesses, in her words they spent hours on end “breathing in dead people” and now her lungs are shattered.

These stories hopefully remind us how precious every day is. One father’s last words to his son on the phone was to “get to the roof” which was what some people did during the 1993 underground bombing. He lives with those last words every day.

Copyright 4EvaYoung.com.

Focus on today.

“Don’t take tomorrow to bed with you.” - Norman Vincent Peale

Focus on today by building “a habit of spending more time in the present and less time in imagined future scenarios or old memories.” You would probably be in shock if you were ever to take stock of how much time you spend daily daydreaming, fretting over things you can’t change and thinking about tomorrow. We all do it, the key is to be conscious of when you are doing it so that you can stop it and return back to the present. You may also “…do this through things like focusing on your breathing or on your inner body.”

Don’t go too fast.

“To go fast, row slowly.” - Norman Vincent Peale

This is such an Achilles heel especially for young men who want to conquer the world. They go at a million miles an hour trying to out achieve their compatriots. “It’s tempting to go fast…you may be tempted to grab on to the next big idea, the next “magic pill”, instead of steadily keep going on your current path. To actually get where you want to go a slower pace may be more useful and effective than a hurried and quick pace.”

While on the surface it seems counter intuitive to go slower if you want to progress faster, there is a ring of truth to the time old fable of the rabbit and the hare. We know that those who keep a constant state of progress done within their limits often achieve greater success and sustain it for longer periods of time than those who burst out of the blocks sprinting only to run out of juice before ever reaching the finish line.

Learn not only from your mistakes.

“We’ve all heard that we have to learn from our mistakes, but I think it’s more important to learn from successes. If you learn only from your mistakes, you are inclined to learn only errors.” - Norman Vincent Peale

“Our mistakes are interesting because they can often teach us something valuable if we just take a closer look at what happened. But, of course, the successes are really useful to analyze too…It is here we can find perhaps a crucial detail or something that we did that we missed the other 10 times we tried.” Success goes to those who are willing to pause and reflect on the successes and failures that have gotten them there. It is only through careful and meticulous reflection on one’s progress that you find what is working and what isn’t. To repeat what doesn’t work over and over again is just an exercise in mediocrity.

Copyright 4EvaYoung.com.

Why Firing Your Worst Friends Could Be The Best Investment You Ever Made

Whether it’s in a business environment or personal life, relationships are the key to longevity and overall health. You want to foster and maintain good relationships. You can’t possibly do that to your best ability if you are constantly having to tend to low value friends who drag you down, attack your self worth, wear you out or just aren’t supportive with your life choices or direction. So as Donald Trump would say in his once popular TV show “Apprentice” - “Your fired!”. Here are the type of friends that deserve to get shown the door.

What I Wish I Knew When I Was Younger

As a child you are dependent on advice from adults to guide and keep you safe. As we get older we realize that most adults are just trying to find their way through life as we are in ours. Listen to your own small voice within to guide you even in the face of all objections.

Your path to sanity, happiness and fulfillment depends on your courage to find your voice and to act on it at every opportunity. Those who truly have your best interest at heart, who love you unconditionally will eventually get over it. They want what is best for you. Remember you are never going to please everyone. It is a futile endeavour to think otherwise and the only real casualty is yourself.

5 Things I’ve Learnt Being 4584 Miles From Home

Being 4584 miles away from home you realise that life is really not that much different. The people, culture and geography may have changed but life is really the same. The locals go to work to provide for their family, parents still want their kids to grow up healthy and happy. And people are generally good and will help you if you are lost which happens surprisingly frequently for me. Below are some of the lessons I’ve had time to reflect on while being away from the comforts of home.

When Was The Last Time You…

We assume that we have all the time in the world but in reality time is constantly depleting and as surely as we are born, our lives here on earth will come to an end someday. It would be wonderful if we could say that we have lived a good life and that we never took the magical gift that life is for granted.

After-all, what is life if you amass a fortune but can´t take time to appreciate it and be thankful to those who make your life worth living.

Ask The Readers: What I Wish I Knew When I Was Younger

I great quote comes to mind from Marie Carie: “You cannot hope to build a better world without improving the individuals. To that end each of us must work for his own improvement, and at the same time share a general responsibility for all humanity, our particular duty being to aid those to whom we think we can be most useful.”

Copyright 4EvaYoung.com.

I know I’ve squandered away many years of my life living up to someone else’s expectation, imagined and otherwise. We’ve all been guilty of that at one point or another. We get sold on this idea of who we should be, what success is and how we ought to live and before you know it you’ve forgotten who you were. How life can so easily be consumed by misplaced obedience.

Whether it’s the house wife who dreamed of traveling the globe, the doctor who wanted to be an artist, the waitress who dreamed of becoming a star. The story is the same. Somewhere along the way we became an unwitting victim in someone else’s story. That “someone” may have been a parent who convinced you that there is no future in painting or society that says that being a good mother and wife required you to sacrifice your dreams. Whoever that “someone” might be in your life, only you can take a stand and decide that everyday is a gift. You can squander it living out someone else’s life or you can live by your own choices and determine your own future.

It’s a daily choice to participate fully in the miracle of life or you can turn it into a constant and daily frustration of repetitiveness and drudgery. What a waste that would be.

1. Live Today Because There Is No Promise Of Tomorrow

Sometimes we need a jolt of reality to remind us of our own mortality. I walked with a Spanish pilgrim who only recently had a heart operation to put two stents in to open up his clogged arteries. Unbeknown to his doctor who had instructed him to rest he decided to go on the Camino de Santiago. He was in his late forties, and even with a heart operation he was as fit as anyone half his age. His zest for life emanates through every moment of his day. Staring death in the face makes you appreciate the fact that if you wake up in the morning breathing than it’s a good day.

Everyday is a gift since we don’t know if tomorrow is ever going to come. The thing is that so many magical moments occur in our everyday but we are so distracted that we never take notice. We rush from one place to another glued to our Ipods, Blackberry’s or just distracted in our own daydreams that life just passes us by. And each day begins to look just like the one before. Take time each day instead to just slow down and fully live the moment. Put your Ipod away and turn off your Blackberry and take in your surroundings, the noise and the smells. The promise of life isn’t in some far off place when you get that luxury car, large screen TV or that house by the lake. Life is all around you, everyday if you would just grab it with both hands.

2. Start Each Day With A Smile In Your Heart

“Why should I be gloomy when I can be glad? There inside of me is a force that makes it’s own weather, winning through thickest clouds to the shining sun.” - J.B. His life and works.

I got the great opportunity to meet inspiring pilgrims on the Camino, some of whom survived a heart attack, cancer and one of my favorite pilgrims from Germany survived a boating accident that severed his spine. Doctor’s told him that he would never walk again but through much pain, struggle and rehabilitation he defied the odds and regained his ability to walk. One thing I realized being around these inspiring pilgrims was that they started each day with a smile on their face and a gladness in their hearts. No matter how difficult the days stage, the weather or any other circumstances of which they had little control over they were amazingly cheerful company. And it is infectious to those around them. If you start the day with a smile, it can be surprising how accommodating the universe can be. Happiness doesn’t come from those around you, life isn’t going to make you happy. Happiness is a daily choice. It begins with your attitude. Live with an attitude of gladness, gratefulness and you’ll be sure to find contentment along the way.

3. Discover Your Passion

“If you follow your bliss, you put yourself on a kind of track, that has been there all the while, waiting for you, and the life you ought to be living is the one you are living.” - Joseph Campbell

Have you ever noticed that the times in your life when you truly felt alive occurred when you were passionately consumed by someone, thing or activity. It’s not coincidence that passion brings forth an energy that revitalizes your soul and makes life exciting. If you have never experienced the exhilaration of following your passion then consider this from Fredierick Buechner, “The world is full of people who seem to have listened to the wrong voice and are now engaged in a life work in which they find no pleasure or purpose and who run the risk of suddenly realizing some day that they have spent the only years they are ever going to get in this world doing something which could not matter less to themselves or to anyone else…work that seems simply irrelevant not only to the great human needs and issues of our time but also to their own need to grow and develop as humans.”

Finding your passion and having the courage and strength to pursue it with vigor and wholeness puts you into that small group of people who have found the great elixir of life.

Copyright 4EvaYoung.com.

The people I already want to stay in contact with already exist on my phone and email list so adding them again to Facebook seemed almost a redundant step. Throw in privacy concerns that have been circulating about Facebook, the fact that acquaintances can now track you far too easily, the time wasting application requests that you get daily and the benefits of Facebook quickly start to diminish.

So just the other day I decided to delete my Facebook account and join the small minority who’ve given Facebook the flick.

While deactivating your Facebook account is straightforward enough, it keeps all your personal information on Facebook’s servers and thus people can still tag you in photos and invite you to events like you were still a fully functioning Facebook member. Until recently deleting your Facebook account was a logistical nightmare having to manually delete your comments, untag photos, leave the networks and groups you’ve joined and any other trace you have on Facebook.

Thankfully Facebook has listened to it’s disgruntled members and have offered a convenient way to delete your Facebook account once and for all. You can email the staff at Facebook at privacy@facebook.com from the email address associated with your account and they can take care of the deletion for you.

Copyright 4EvaYoung.com.

To Go Alone Or With Someone

The great debate for any traveller is whether to go alone or with someone. In Winter Camino you will find many pilgrims go it alone as they are in search of answers or just for practical reasons. Summer pilgrimage brings in large crowds of people across Europe on holidays and you’ll find more groups on the Camino. Whether you go with someone or by yourself is a personal decision.

One consideration to keep in mind is that it is important to find someone who has a similar walking speed as you otherwise you will find you’re having to strain yourself to keep up which inevitably results in blisters and pain. The great thing about the Camino is that you are never alone and it is still very safe even for solo female pilgrims.

Speaking The Language

Being well versed in Spanish before beginning your Camino is hugely advantageous. Most people, particularly in Northern Spain do not speak English. But more importantly being able to speak Spanish enables you to enjoy a much richer experience of the Camino since it affords you the wonderful opportunity to speak to the many friendly locals you meet along the way. Don’t wait till the last moment to cram in a Spanish course, get started as soon as you are serious about your trip to Spain.

Where To Start

The most popular route to Santiago is the French Way. While there are many route options to choose from beginning anywhere from Portugal, France and in various locations throughout Northern Spain the French Way is the most wildly known and provides the best infrastructure for pilgrims. Popular starting points on the French route are St Jean Pied de Port, Roncesvalles and Pamplona. All these locations can be reached quite easily by train or bus from any major airport. These above mentioned starting points will take you somewhere in the vicinity of 4-5 weeks to walk to Santiago. If you have less time available then consider starting at a city closer to Santiago or to undertake your pilgrimage over several years as many people do.

Your Belongings On Your Back

However much stuff you decide to bring is largely a personal choice and in the end you are going to be the one carrying it for every kilometre. Just remember that the heavier your backpack the more strain you put on your body which is fine when you are walking for a day or two but it really becomes a physical burden when you are repeating your strenuous walks daily for several weeks. A rule of thumb most people seem to subscribe to is carrying a load no greater than 10kg. Others suggest limiting your backpack weight to around 10% of your body weight.

Where To Sleep At Night

If you’re staying in the Albergues provided along the route, don’t be expecting anything fancy.  While accommodation standards and facilities vary greatly between Municipal, monasteries, church or private run Albergues it’s still safe to say that they are a far cry from a hotel. If you have in your possession a Pilgrim’s credential you can stay a maximum of one night in an Albergue.

The Albergues are dormitory style accommodations, usually with rooms filled with bunk beds and a shared bathroom. Many private Albergues have started to open up as the popularity of the French way continues to grow. Many provide better facilities for a higher price. Be prepared for the occasional cold shower and showers that don’t have any water pressure.

Preparation Before You Start

If you are like me and spend much of your weekdays sitting in front of a computer and driving everywhere then a little physical training is in order to maximise your enjoyment on the camino. You will be walking anywhere from 20km to 30km plus days for weeks on end with a loaded backpack. The terrain is often physically demanding even for the fittest of pilgrims so if your body isn’t conditioned to regular physical exertion you will find aches and pains are going to really hinder your progress.

It’s a good idea to buy your walking boots as early as possible and break them in. The more preparation you undertake before starting the less chance you will have to deal with blisters, which for many pilgrims is a real reality.

Copyright 4EvaYoung.com.

For me it took a journey thousands of miles to Spain to truly appreciate the gift that life is and soak in the everyday moments. It´s amazing how many years just get wasted away in the busyness of life and get consumed by meaningless deadlines and projects which at the time seemed so important. It is so easy to just get caught in the routine of life that we confuse living with motion.

I realised that it takes a conscious decision everyday to make each day truly count. You are always going to have some pressing engagement, project and your to-do list is forever going to be a never ending list but if you take a decision every morning to take time to live each day then it´s amazing what life throws your way.

The Spanish, especially here in Northern Spain appear to have struck a wonderful balance that is just so conducive to really enjoying life for what it is. They work on their lands or wherever during the morning and come the afternoon they make their way home or to the local pub to take and enjoy a slow lunch. Life in Northern Spain is done at a meandering pace. With dinner starting late into the evening and families still found soaking in the wonderful evening atmosphere in the streets late into the night.

I can´t tell you how many times I´ve walked into a cafe and the cook hasn´t yet arrived to work or a restaurant that is meant to be open at a certain hour is still closed because the restaurateur hasn´t yet returned from siesta. Things in nortern Spain operate on Spanish time and yet the world hasn´t come to an end and things still get done.

For Spaniards meal times are a wonderful chance to spend time with family and friends. Eating isn´t just some temporary interruption to your day but rather a chance to appreciate good food, fine wine and wonderful company.

How much better would life be if we ourselves found a little Spain in our lives everyday. To work a little, eat a little, drink a little, rest a little, laugh a little, live a little. How often we take the most precious thing in life for granted, ¨Time¨.

We assume that we have all the time in the world but in reality time is constantly depleting and as surely as we are born, our lives here on earth will come to an end someday. It would be wonderful if we could say that we have lived a good life and that we never took the magical gift that life is for granted.

After-all, what is life if you amass a fortune but can´t take time to appreciate it and be thankful to those who make your life worth living.

Copyright 4EvaYoung.com.

Since my days are currently spent on the Camino I thought I might give those interested or possibly considering undertaking a pilgrimage of their own a small glimpse to a day in the life of a pilgrim on the Camino de Santiago.

To undertake a pilgrimage it needn´t have to necessarily be the Camino de Santiago. There are many others to choose from both throughout Europe and elsewhere and it needn´t have to be religious in nature.

A trip to the woods or to somewhere away from your daily routine are just as valid an option and often times more rewarding. As for me I decided to walk to Santiago from Pamplona. While no day could really be described as a typical day here is a small glimpse of life on the Camino.

7am-7.30am - Since I´m more or less undertaking a winter Camino there is not as many pilgrims as you would find during the warmer months of the year. So thankfully most pilgrims get up around 7am or there abouts and you´re usually either woken up by the sounds of packing. No alarm clocks are needed since your body tends to adjust quite quickly to the daily rhythm.

8am - Around 8 am I will tend to have completed my morning routine and have my bags packed. On the Camino you are permitted to only stay one night in Albergues which are purpose built accommodations for pilgrims who have a ¨Pilgrim credential¨. Packing your bags every morning just becomes part of life as you´re never in the same place for more than a night. Most Albergues also require you to vacate the premises by around 8-9 am so there is really no chance of sleeping in.

8am Onwards - You spend the day walking to your next Albergue that you intend to sleep at for the night. The stage distances vary and the terrain changes as you navigate your way through northern Spain. What is undeniable is how lucky you feel being able to spend your days just walking through beautiful Spanish countryside and often climbing mountains where you are afforded postcard perfect views once you reach the top on a good day. It´s not to say everyday is amazing as you will inevitably experience all the weather conditions from perfect blue sky days to blizzards and torrential rain.

You can spend hours wondering through largely untouched hills and countryside before passing through sleepy little villages. You take time to stop at the cafe or bar and have lunch as your body dictates.

2pm -5pm - Around this time you generally arrive at the Albergue tired and hungry. It also tends to be the time when everything is shut tight as Spaniards still adhere to the age old tradition of taking a Siesta in the late afternoon and dinner doesn´t usually begin till 8pm which took some adjusting on my part since I usually have dinner much earlier than this back home. You take this time instead to rest, have a shower and spend time with other pilgrims.

8pm - Sometime around 8pm you make your way to a restaurant or cafe. In the smaller villages there usually isn´t much choice. There might just be one bar/restaurant open. You´ll sit down for a nice dinner with fellow pilgrims. The wonderful thing about the Camino is that it brings people from all backgrounds and nationality together and it affords you a wonderful opportunity to get to know people from different walks of life.

At the restaurant you generally have a fixed menu called ¨Menu de Peregrinos¨which gives you a few options for a starter, main and desert for a reasonable fixed price. A la carte in Spain gets astronomically expensive and fixed price menus are a great low budget option to try the wonderful foods of the different regions you walk through in Spain.

10pm - Generally the Albergues have a lights out policy around 10pm and the doors are closed. Here is where you try and rest up in the backdrop of snoring before beginning the whole routine again tomorrow.

Copyright 4EvaYoung.com.