Are we ready to go? Well, let's see. If ready means having a detailed picture of exactly where we are going, the answer is no. If ready means having planned for all of the potential problems and pitfalls, the anwer is no again. We are sceduled to leave on Tuesday and we still have a million things to do - things that probably should have been done weeks ago. We haven't started packing yet and I can't even find half of the many incomplete lists telling me about all the things that will be needed on this road trip across the USA. And I'm sure we'll realize we've forgotten something very important (like sleeping bags - something we forgot on our last camping trip) once its too late to turn back. But even though we plan to be gone for several months, I don't seem to be very concerned about all that remains unsettled. And I want to hit the road on Tuesday whether we are ready or not. Its almost like a primal force that's pushing me out the door - I don't quite understand it, but it seems important and necessary - and like if we don't do this now, we might never do it at all.
In a lot of respects, this trip is perfectly timed - the first chapter in the next phase of our lives. Both of us are leaving behind careers that have burned us out badly. And while I'm trying to keep an open mind about whether I might return to my law practice, the voices inside are saying "please God, let it be something else that I spend the rest of my life doing." So we are hitting the road, as so many before us have done, with hopes for great inspiration. Maybe, just maybe, something will bubble to the surface. It hasn't yet. Honestly, right now there is just a big blank slate. And although it feels strange not to have some kind of career goal in front of me, I think I'm starting to feel comfortable with that awkwardness.
So, we are not terribly organized. But it occurs to me that we are doing this trip in much the same way we do our lives. without a lot of planning and preparation. Sort of figuring it out as we go along. Pretty spontaneous. But its pretty much zero to 60 once the decision is made to act. And I like that about us. I appreciate that we are both on the same wavelength as far as this goes. I guess its one of the reasons we're still together after close to thirty-six years. So, anyway, its balls to the walls baby! The road to nowhere begins! We'll keep you posted!!!
