Three years from now you won’t remember the sneakers. You’ll remember the road trip.

Objects and experiences decay at completely different rates. A new thing is thrilling for about two weeks and then becomes furniture, while a bad hotel and a broken playlist and four people in a car turns into a story you will still be telling at thirty. Memory keeps what happened, not what was owned.

When you have to choose, and you often will, put the money toward the thing that involves people and a place. Go on the trip in the cheap car. Buy the ticket rather than the upgrade. Nobody is telling you to want nothing, only to notice which of the two keeps paying out.