When will I travel again?

Dan and I watched a movie last night. It was "Memoirs of a Geisha." It's a few years old. I picked it up at the library because I remember reading the book for book club and wanting to see the movie. The story was as good as I remember. What caught my eye this time around was the landscape. "Memoirs" was set in Japan around World War II. The opening scene shows the ocean. It was rainy and dark, but it made me long to be at the ocean again. I was also fascinated by the gardens, the architecture, and the clothing.
We knew something the day we came home, or maybe even before. Our bodies may stop traveling, but our minds will not. Now everything reminds us, calls us to come see it, to travel. For as many places in America that we dove headfirst into the culture and scenery, there are thousands of more places around the world to be discovered. Even in America we could do the trip all over again and see the same places but in different seasons. Last year I lived a dream. This year I can only dream.

There's a first time for everything

Some days, like when I'm writing, I get caught up in the idea that everything has been said and done before I ever got here. Millions of people have been to the Grand Canyon. Women have babies every single day. Books have been written on every topic. There's not one word, song or experience that Google doesn't know about already. Nothing is new or novel. This line of thinking is a real problem. There's no fun, no creativity. Some days, I call it writer's block.

That's when I have to think about all the firsts I accomplished last year on our trip. Last year on this very day, I was in Maryland at a seafood festival. I ate a crab cake for the first time ever. Surprisingly, I ate the whole thing. Yum. Dan's fried squid, on the other hand, was not a treat I was ready to sample. I doubt I’ll ever join that club. I racked up a lot of firsts last year though. First time in Boston, first alligator experience, first time to Spring Training, first time driving an RV. It really was a year of firsts.

I checked off another first this week when I went knee boarding on Lake Martin. After watching my 4-year old nephew climb on top of the board and cruise along behind us in the boat, I realized I was missing a lot of fun. I was terrible at it. I kept getting pulled under water or falling off. But it was so much fun. I felt like a kid again.

Despite what they say, there really is a first time for everything because no one experiences crab cakes or knee boarding or Gettysburg just like I do. And once I cross that line, trying something for the first time, there are tons of people waiting on the other side, to discuss it and embrace me as part of the group of "those who have." And that's the best part, sharing experiences with others. This is what I try to remember some days when I'm writing.

Our Trip Took Us into the Ocean

On a yearlong RV trip, I never imagined that we'd take a cruise too. But as luck would have it, that's just what we were doing last year on this day.

We discovered the Cape May-Lewes Ferry when we were trying to plan a route along the Atlantic Coast. We'd been to New York and Philadelphia, we were in New Jersey and we were headed to Maryland, Delaware and Washington D.C. That's when we found a shortcut across the ocean. It's a 17-mile, 85 minute trip between New Jersey and Delaware. It was under $100 bucks for the ride (it's much cheaper for passenger cars than 45-foot RVs) and it saved us a ton of time looping around the states, not to mention gas money. On top of that, once we boarded the big ship,and left our camper down in the parking area, we discovered that it was a Family Fun Cruise, with a DJ and activities for the kids on all three levels of the boat.

The thing I remember the most about our cruise across the Delaware Bay was how amazing it felt to stand with Dan and the kids at the bow, looking down at the inky water and wondering how I got so lucky.

The first century Roman philosopher, Seneca, said "Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity." I guess I believe that. We did a ton of preparation to give our family the opportunity to travel together. But sometimes the beauty of luck just sneaks right up on you.