TMI Tuesday: Where Am I?

Before our recent long vacation we had spent a few nights in hotel rooms here and there with our son. Basically, we used those weekend trips to get him used to traveling and sleeping at night in the pack and play. He seemed to be fine for a night or two so we were feeling pretty good about this little adventure. In fact, he enjoyed being out and on the go during those brief periods.

Our Virginia trip consisted of nine nights across four different hotels. A big change from a night or two over the weekend. However, each night he went right to bed with nearly the same effort as at home and every morning he would wake up early looking for mommy and daddy with only the slight hint of “where the heck are we” on his face. Once he caught a glimpse of us he would settle right down and almost seemed eager to begin exploring again.

Of course, those were the mornings and with as many miles as we put on the car (about 2,500 total), it was the car seat that he began getting tired of rather than the sleeping arrangement. Once we got somewhere and pulled him out of the car so he could stretch a little bit he liked to look around and take in the different people and places around him. He still had those same looks on his face of curiosity and wonderment that he did in the morning but as long as he had his mommy and daddy (or grandmom and granddad) he was okay.

Actually, I really enjoyed bringing him to these different places both the ones that I haven’t seen in decades and also the one that I was seeing for the first time right along with him. And the same can be said for all of us on this exploration. Being able to share that rediscovery with my dad going to the different towns and places (both on road and off road) is something that I will never forget. Having my son with me and having my dad share these place with him was one of the highlights of the trip.

In the end, while we were pretty sure of it before. We know for a fact that our son likes to travel. Actually, it was pretty funny when he had that same expression of “where the heck am I” when he woke up yesterday morning in his own bed. I guess we will have to start planning some more trips in the near future.

Reading With A Bit Of Envy

During my life I have enjoyed travelling to many different places around the United States and to some other parts of the world. Every once in a while, such as this week when I was corresponding with a reporter, I am even able to pull from those experiences and offer a few suggestions of places to go, things to see, or where you can get a nice meal. While I am more traveled than some, I fall tremendously short of others.

Maybe this is the reason why I experience a slight hint of envy when I read my friend Nadine’s blog. Nadine and my wife used to work together years ago and since that time she has been to some amazing places and accomplished some impressive feats. She has been to France for a season, Italy to visit a friend, and, this past summer she walked the entirety of the Camino. All of these places would be wonderful to see but I have yet to travel to those places.

Thankfully, she has proven to be quite the prolific blogger and photographer so, on occasion, I will venture over to her page and read through some of the informative and entertaining posts… most of them have centered on travel but there is also a good mix of both humor and reflection. I think the most recent incarnation of her creative passion, “Begin With A Single Step”, touches on all of those things and more. This was evident in her first post when she wrote the following:

“A single step feels both enormous and insignificant. Whether it’s an actual footstep, the beginning action of something, a small part of a process or even a decision to start; it’s one step. It takes stringing the steps together, putting one foot in front of the other over and over again, day in and day out- often tirelessly- to get somewhere. To create something. To change one thing in your life. To change your entire life.”

I read the words and look at the picture and while I would like to see those places first hand there are also places that I have been and experiences I have had that have filled my life. Some people have even read my posts about them or heard me mention them in conversation and reacted the same way that I do to Nadine’s adventures. Even if I never make it to the places that I read about in books or on blogs, there are so many other things that I would have never been able to experience had I packed my bags and hit the road.

I guess we all just live different lives with each of us seeing different things while others simply imagine them. We can do everything and be everywhere. We all put one foot in front of the other but it doesn’t mean we are all going to walk on the same path or in the same direction. And, honestly, I am blown away by the scenery that surrounds me on my journey.