Mazda launched the Miata in 1989. Remember the buzz?  I bought a red one in 1991. It was the first and only new car I ever bought, and the only car I’ve ever really loved. I pampered that baby. In those days it was still fresh enough to get admiring comments in the streets. So much fun.

One of the big car magazines did a road test. They judged that the Miata was as much fun to drive as a Ferrari.

So the question became, which would you rather have? For the same price you can have a Ferrari, or, you can get a new Miata…

…plus a house.

Which would you choose? A Ferrari, or a Miata plus a house? I assume most of you would choose door number two.

Here’s a third choice. Which would you rather have: a Ferrari, a Miata plus a house, or…

…eight to ten years of freedom to explore the planet?

I still wrestle with this. Every purchase represents a choice; a potential narrowing of options. A nice meal with a bottle of wine costs one day in Costa Rica, or three days in India. That flat-screen TV I got last Christmas cost me a round-trip ticket to Tahiti.