Day 17: Introspective Boulder

We’ve been traveling for about two weeks and I have some perspective on our trip. We have been to twelve states and ten cities in seventeen days. We have driven 2941.1miles, been driving for 56:26 hours, and filled the tank nine times. We have seen friends, parents, parents’ of friends, strangers, randoms, and random strangers. We have slept in beds, on couches, in recliners, in one hotel, and face down on the floor. We have eaten in diners, family restaurants, sports bars, sushi bars, burger joints, brew pubs, had home cooked meals, and not eaten anything at all. We have drunk too much coffee, too many energy drinks, too many beers, and not enough vitamin water. We have seen deer, buffaloes, geese, bulls, horses, cats, dogs, raccoons, and the largest Holstein in the country. We have been to a Major League Baseball Game, a National Football League Game, two miniature golf courses, and two National State Parks. And amazingly, the trip is only about half over!

And through all of this traveling, I have gained a little more perspective on my future and my life. I have been able to take a step back from the life that I was leading in Boston and get a glimpse of what I was doing, why I was doing it, and what I want to be doing. Although it may seem obvious, I think it does take a trip, vacation, or some sort of break from your normal life, to really come to understand the patterns in your life. It is very easy to get caught up in the same habits and routines. Everything can become the same. The same as it always was, is, and even will be.

And you know what’s ironic about being caught up in all these patterns and routines: the patterns and routines are what make people love where they are from. Almost every single person that I have interacted with, stayed with, or come in contact with has been excited about the place that they call home. Whether it was in Rapid City, South Dakota, Green Bay, Wisconsin, or Minneapolis, Minnesota, everyone is excited about their city or town. I am sure there are many reasons why people love where they live (i.e. the climate, the pace of life, the culture, the city itself, etc.), but for as long a list as I could create, the commonality is that people love a place called home!

This may seem absurd coming from someone who has given up this precious commodity, but it is only in the absence of such a commodity that I could truly embrace this realization. I always knew it to be true cognitively, but now I can be in touch with it experientially. I can better understand my own routines and patterns no matter where I make my home. I can hopefully learn from everyone that I have met and will meet in order to develop a clearer vision of these desires in my own life.

And if you’re able to live vicariously through our trip, may you recognize the patterns and routines in your own life. And know that you can have the traveler’s perspective each and every day. You can go up on a hill in your neighborhood, and with the right kind of eyes, look back at your own life. And rather than see the high watermark where the wave rolled back, you can see the high watermark that you have yet to achieve in the place that you call home…