Heading Out

Heading Out

1.8.18

In two days I’ll head out for my next great adventure. Even now this close to leaving, even after having had months to plan, I’m still running through my check lists, wondering what I’ve missed, wondering if I’ve added and subtracted all my finances correctly, and wishing I were able, like MacGyver, to travel with only a Swiss Army knife and a jacket.

Only two days out, I’ve still got a pile of notes rising like towers on either side of my computer. They contain an eclectic mixture of locations, dates, budgets, bus schedules, ideas, sites, and reminders. If my mind is anything like the notes I’ve made (checked and rechecked) then it’s also jumbled, disorganized, and only clear to me. But soon (too soon?), all this planning will pay off and I’ll be on the move again. If by chance, I’ve missed something, well, too late, I’ll just have to wing it.

I can do that. Right?

They say a rolling stone gathers no moss. It was once written by Gandalf to Frodo that, “All who wander are not lost.” Metallica sang, “Anywhere I roam/Where I lay my head is home.” Somehow, each of those applies to me to some extent. Or maybe it’s simply that I, like Jack, need to hit the road. The long and winding road that the Beatles talked about. The road that goes ever ever on, to quote one of Bilbo’s traveling songs.

Whatever it is, to be sure, it’s the motion and the newness of yet-to-be-visited places that I need. It’s time to shake up the routines I’ve made and to step off the paths I’ve grounded down into ruts. So, with that in mind, I’m joyfully heading out again.

This time, I’m off to the United Kingdom with a first stop-layover in Iceland.

I’ve got my winter coat packed and my rain gear in reserve. I’ve got my camera near to hand and a journal to jot notes in. I’ll be writing, blogging, taking pictures, and to paraphrase a friend of mine, I’ll be out there living my life.

And since there seems to be a lyric for everything I want to say today, I’ll sing along with Willie Nelson as he sings, “On the road again/I just can’t wait to get on the road again.”