30 day countdown

I am sitting in the dining room listening to the wind howl outside as I ponder this blog entry.  My day was spent out in the high country of the San Juan's battling this same wind on a long day of elk hunting. No elk in the freezer yet this season, but several days still remain.  Optimism is still high!

Pretty sobering to think we will be getting in the car to drive Nanda to Uncle Jeff's and Aunt Maria's in Montana in 30 days time.  That is our send-off from Ouray and the beginning of this adventure.  There is a lot left to be done in those 30 days. Yikes!  Some days pass comfortably with thoughts such as, "what will be will be, just don't forget the passports on the way to the airport."  Other days are rife with feelings of suffocation, "Heellllpppppp!!  There are way too many tasks left to be accomplished!"

Today is one of the easy days.  Probably coincides with many hours and miles in solitary thought toting around a rifle in the mountains.

This adventure really began even before Joanie and I had children together.  We decided way back when, that if we did have children, we would definitely take a year off with them and travel the world.  Making that statement back then created the obligation.  I am a big fan of 'creating the obligation'. Go ahead - jump into the deep end of the pool. What's the worse that could happen?  If nothing else, you'll have a good story to tell.

World travel has been in our blood for a long time.  Joanie and I created a travel legacy for ourselves in our 20s by rejecting conventional wisdom and choosing travel and adventure over careers and upward mobility. Whatever that means.  That commitment to travel and lifestyle created where we live, who we are, how we spend our days, and what we believe.  We expect our children to be similarly empowered by the magic of choice.

The first trip of significant magnitude that I took was Europe for 3 1/2 months in 1989. Right after college.  I still have the card my parents gave me just prior to embarkation.  It has a simple pastel drawing of a sail boat on the cover.  Open the card and it reads, "Bon Voyage...living well is the best revenge."  I love that line. It suits my personality as I suspect my parents knew when they selected the card.

Life is not a dress rehearsal.   Time is short.  Go and and GET SOME while you are here.