Get up and GO!

“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime." - Mark Twain

I remember well the day the travel bug jumped up and bit me.  In third grade we were given our world history book and the very first page I opened to was a full page photo of the pyramids at Giza.  It was a night photo, no glaring sun on hot sand but the cool, mystical light of the moon embracing these majestic structures.  I had no idea what they were or in what country they could be found, but I knew someday I MUST see them, I must learn about them, I must walk close to these ancient tributes to man's ambitions.  The smell of well used book and the hopes for the adventures of someday filled my dreamy little brain as I laid my head down on the book and sighed in happiness.  To travel!  Someday...

One of my biggest "someday" dreams was to live on the West Coast close to my friends Leah and Adrien, their son Lillian (Liloo more often than not) and Iskra, their dog.  Five years ago they made a crossing from Fort Wayne to Vancouver, BC.  This year, Leah's dream of island living came true.  They have found an adorable house to rent on Vancouver Island, close to Victoria. Although we are so far away from each other, Leah and I have managed to strengthen our friendship and to still discuss the plans we have for the future.  I had given up the dream of joining them any time soon and had decided to put it on the list for someday, probably closer to retirement, and that maybe, for now, I should live a more stationary, hopefully more stable, lifestyle.  I put my wandering spirit away, set lovingly aside for the day when I would need it again.  That time has arrived and we are rejoined in a way that makes my heart sing and my body feel more vibrant and alive!  

To date, I have seen quite a few historic locations in the United States, been to Cancun twice, have crossed into Canada on a handful of occasions when my family and I lived in New York, and attempted to run away from home in 2008 (another story for another time).  No crossing the pond for me yet.  But I know it will happen.  The desire to travel, to see different places and people, to feel history under my feet, has never left me.  

After a life changing event in October, Andrew and I came to the decision that life is too short to not live the way you want, to be where your heart most wants you to be, or to live the life you could only live if you dreamed it...or had the courage and resources to make it a reality. I know that someday may never happen, that life is precious, oh so precious, and while this may be considered cliche, for me these realizations are filled with conviction.  I am fortunate that my family feels the same way. Life is to be lived! So let's go! 

But go where?  The decision was quite easy.  Washington state, hopefully Seattle, would be an ideal location for us for numerous reasons (again, another time for those reasons).  The decision made and location chosen, it's time to start getting ready.  Andrew and I have been plotting our course, contacting friends and family across the country, packing the house and DOWNSIZING our possessions in a severe way.  Our yard sale pile is easily three times the amount of things we have decided to save and send to Nora, Andrew's mother, who lives in Oregon.  We are lucky to have a place to send the things we can't give up, although that mostly seems to be books at this time.  I can't give up my books!  And media mail makes it so I don't have to!  Hooray! 

In 29 days we will pack into our truck with the camper attached to it and we will be on our way! There will be no direct route to our final location.  The chance to see and experience different places is too great to pass up.  Washington may be on the west coast but our travel plans take us through Michigan, Wisconsin, back through Indiana then crossing to the south east coast for some historic site seeing, places that make my heart race out of sheer happiness and excitement.  We will see Charleston, Savannah, New Orleans.  There will be travels up the Mississippi River and plantations, hundreds of years old, to wander through and marvel at the way people lived once upon a time.  We will head out west, visiting my brother and his family in Colorado and then Andrew's sister in LA along with whatever stops in between that catch our interest. After that, the trip will head north again, visit San Fran and keep pushing on until we reach Nora in Oregon.  We will stay with Mama N for a week before joining Leah and Adrien at their house on the island.  Whew. I did try to make that brief but it's hard to sum up a trip that will last approximately three months.  

More posts to follow, of course, and more pieces to pull everything together...this will be fun to resharpen my writing skills, especially with such an exciting topic to explore.  

Have a lovely day all!