Tuesday, June 2, 2015

Thankful to Travel

I know, I know. It's been a while since the last time I wrote. A lot has happened since April 20, when I had just come back from a trip to Savannah and droned on and on about the historical significance of what is a very charming little Southern city. Just a few hours ago, the president of the governing body behind the world's most popular sport in the world resigned. There was a second royal baby in May. Earlier this week, a former Olympic champion and once the greatest athlete on the globe publicly began a new life as a woman. 

Time really does fly. I've been active myself recently and had the overwhelmingly good fortune to spend time with the most important people in my life in a variety of places I could never have anticipated having any reason to see. In just the last month or so, I've..

Always keep adventuring.
...watched the Meatball, along with thousands of her classmates, graduate from the University of South Carolina. 

...strolled along the boardwalk in Asbury Park, New Jersey and intimately felt the ocean's commanding presence without being surrounded by throngs of summer weekend tourists.

...stood on a crisp Friday night under a glowing sunset at the grave of Edward Braddock, the commander-in-chief of the British and colonial forces during the French and Indian War. 

...ridden a bike through nature trails outside Pittsburgh and had a picnic next to a small creek and a little league baseball field that instantly brought back so many wonderful childhood memories. 

...been to six baseball games in Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania, and stood in front of the most important government buildings of three different states: the New Jersey State House in Trenton, the Virginia State Capitol in Richmond, and the Pennsylvania Capitol Building in Harrisburg.

There are many travel blogs out there that feature exotic destinations and provide great information for those who are curious about the world outside of their own. I'm extremely envious of those who get to make a living traveling and detailing their adventures here and there, from beaches to forests to mountains and everywhere in between. I'd love to be able to do the same thing every day of my life.

When I stop to think about it, though, I realize just how lucky I've truly been already. I've lived in England for a year and a half and earned a Master's degree while I was at it. I've lived in five different states back on this side of the Atlantic, challenging myself by spending extensive time in unfamiliar environments (here's to you, Kansas!) where I literally didn't know anybody before I got there. I've visited places both in America and abroad that 99% of the world's population will never have the means to see, and I dare to complain when things don't go exactly to plan or I'm inconvenienced in some ultimately menial way.

In just a few weeks Gina and I will be setting out on one of the most expansive vacations I know I've ever had -- spending two weeks traversing the Rocky Mountains, camping in five national parks (four in the U.S. and one in Canada), and spending nights in some cities like Missoula, Montana, Grand Junction, Colorado, and Boise, Idaho, that are not particularly well known here on the East Coast and which I am eager to explore. I hope to be more diligent in my effort to capture these experiences on paper (or in this case, my laptop) and in visual form. I'm hoping to do short daily video blogs while we're out there, but I'm learning more and more that if I don't stop and waste too much time documenting every small detail on social media, my life will still go on. I want to focus on soaking in all of the new things, and new people, we'll encounter. 

A short post today, but one that was important to me. Travel isn't always about the most glamorous locales or the means in which you do it. It's about gaining new perspectives and doing that with people who mean the most, whether it's yourself or with friends and family. And on that very cliched note, I'll leave it here until later this month!