... since you took my travel away. April, 2019, was my parents 50th anniversary and all 4 of their children went to their party. It was the first time the 6 of us had been together since 2011 when we were helping my parents clean the ME house so they could move to AZ full time. The 4 of us siblings hadn't all been together since somebody's wedding, and we were up in the barn looking through old boxes. We were each considering what we should keep when one of my sisters announced "whose retainer is this?" and my brother's face showed what we were all thinking. Good times, indeed.
We made plans, as you do, to get the whole family together. It was early April, so Dave was at work and the kids were in school; same for my sister's family. If I'd known, I'd have dragged us all out, but do you ever really know what's coming?
The day after school got out, Dave and I flew to Alaska. Now, you need to know that this trip was a bucket list item for me. I have always wanted to go, and I had an Alaskan Cruise in mind as what we did with our bestfriends after all our kids graduated college. Life has a way of taking your plans and switching them up... and this big switcharoo was Ben getting hired at UAF as the assistant nordic ski coach. So, instead of cruising the coastline after our collective kids were settled, our first post-pandemic travel was going to see our kid in his adopted state. Like, wow.
My insta/FB has all the photos from the trip, which was incredible. What I couldn't get beyond, though, was the *act* of traveling. Security, airports, boarding. Seeing new places with people who know me better than most others. Seeing where our oldest has planted his flag, and being with him as he explores this place he now calls home.
I am blessed to live the kind of life that affords such luxury. Seeing new places, exploring the environment and culture of place, with people who mean the most to me... yea. I missed it, more than I ever acknowledged during the Dark Times. Taking this epic trip with my husband and our oldest (our youngest was quite clear that she would sit this one out--and having experienced her motion sickness firsthand, I don't blame her) made it even more magical.
If you are so lucky to be able to do so, travel. You'll learn so much about the world, sure, but you will experience things that you could never imagine possible.
It had been 4 years and 2 weeks, and now I can't wait to get back out there.
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