Life Is Too Short!

I need several more lives.  There is simply too much to do, see, experience!  Life is too short!  Although I've loved the life I've lived I'm now open to a wider array of possibilities.  The choices I see going forward are much broader than the choices I saw as a young woman.

I've written about Brad and his 5000 mile trek in this blog posting and this blog posting and beginning here on my homeonwhidbey blog.  His journey was deep and profound inwardly as well as physically challenging.  What Brad accomplished always gets my blood flowing with enthusiasm and pride.   Hiking new terrain in unfamiliar countries, often solo, stoked my imagination.    Although, (and drat!) with an ankle that can barely do four miles, I must creatively find my own "hike".

I find myself searching for inspiration.  Adventure stories with philosophical depth.   I want heartfelt tales of people going after their on-the-edge dream right along side their in depth scrutiny of what motivated them.    I  look for  "something else" in the narratives I seek out.     Critical insight!  That's it, and humor.   Adventure, travel, and lifestyle storylines are all slightly awkward fits for my criteria, yet, in some curious way, they can all nestle together in a kind of puzzling compatibility…so long as they have that "something else". 

The Zapps are a creative travel family I've mentioned on this blog previously.  Their twist on traveling the world caught my imagination immediately.  I've been all over the world with this family since I first found them, and have just ordered their book Spark Your Dream.   Their life style fascinates me.

In 2000, Candelaria and Herman, childhood sweethearts, left Brazil to travel.  Their home and transportation is a 1928 Graham-Paige vintage automobile.  Top speed, 35 miles per hour.  In the 16 years since they began their travels, they've gone from a family of two to six, having welcomed four new babies while on the road, all born in different countries.  The notches on their belts show 5 continents, 50 countries, and an unbeatable world-wise education.

Photo by Mana Meadows
Zambezi Traveller, 2013

For me this family is a wanderlust tonic.  

And then there's Charlie.  Brad met Charlie on his Te Araroa trek back in 2012.   I've followed Charlie on his Facebook page since.   Charlie has journeyed hundreds of miles as a full-time traveler and adventurer. 

He has visited so many countries and hiked, or occasionally biked, so many trails I'm left dumbfounded:  New Zealand, Australia, Patagonia, Argentina, Chili, Colombia, Finland, Pyrenees, Thailand, Nepal,  Iceland, Scotland, Israel, and on and on… But he doesn't just trek.  

Charlie pays attention.  He observes.  He refines his sensitivities to environmental, political and social issues.  He makes friends.  He participates.  After the earthquake in Kathmandu he rolled up his sleeves and went to work rebuilding destroyed homes.  

Charlie far left, next to Brad
Te Araroa Trail, NZ 2012

On Charlie's most recently completed hike he had this to say:

1/16/16 ~  "Day 67: Eilat.  Today I reached the end of the 1,000 km Israel National Trail."

"The last three weeks through the Negev desert have been physically demanding (carrying over 10 litres of water at times) but intensely memorable.  So much so that I've forgotten virtually everything that went before.

And the aspect of the desert I'll miss the most…not the subtly changing colours, nor the extraordinary geology nor the fantastic shapes, nor even the starlit nights but…the profound silence." 

It's almost possible to hear the
"profound silence"

I'm so hoping Charlie will find his way to the U.S. one day because I most desperately want to sit down for a cup of coffee and hear all about his escapades.  Well, make that several pots of coffee…  Or perhaps a book is on the way, although the perfect title, Travels with Charley, has been taken.

I continue to follow Bumfuzzle, a blog I've mentioned here before.   Bumfuzzle is a vintage Dodge bus and the home and transportation for an American couple and their two children, both born in Mexico, both bilingual and both hotshot surfers.    I've developed admiration and curiosity for the lives of Pat, Ali, Owest and Lowe.  Their past has been one adventure after another. Their blog is rich with observations of people, politics,  geography…life.   Pat, the writer, is not afraid to express his thoughts, kindly but frankly and he can let his humor fly.

Bumfuzzle

Pat and Ali's first Bumfuzzle (before children),

Bumfuzzle #1

But there are other kinds of adventures.  Take Chisan, a practicing Buddhist monk.  Chisan is the interpreter for Harada Roshi, abbot of Sogenji Monastery in Okayama, Japan.  I got to know, and love, Chisan during my involvement at Tahoma Zen Monastery here on Whidbey Island. Years ago I designed and helped install the monastery gardens and along the way found peace and friendship, laughter, wisdom, and beauty.   Chisan, an outstanding potter, hippie traveler from New York,  and now an ordained monk, took a spiritual route for living a life-of-meaning.   Chisan radiates peace and passion.  She is gentle and warm.  Her humor is top notch.  She is wise.  We love to talk politics.  

Chisan, front row, to the left of Roshi

What Brad, Charlie, Bumfuzzle, Chisan and the Zapp family have done for me is to demonstrate creative life styles.  They have shown me distinct ways to custom design my life.     The excellence of their quests has contributed to the decision Ed and I made...our inspiration...to buy Thistle.  Our excitement builds as leave-taking grows near and exploration schemes tease our imaginations.

~~~

"Appreciate the excellence of another while realizing it is not an excellence of one's own." 

~ Edwin R. Anderson

Strangers' Faces

One of the greatest pleasures of traveling are the people one meets. Traveling is not just seeing the sights and checking them off on the want-to-see-list, its finding the stuff of life -- great people doing engaging things in interesting ways. Way back in March, at Capitol Reef, we met Melanie and Martin. Perhaps it's knowing a vehicle like this must have interesting owners or perhaps it was eating apple pie for breakfast together the next morning? Who knows, but we felt friendship behind these strangers' faces, exchanged contact information, and made promises to meet again.

Then we followed one another's blogs (Our Alaska Aventure). And then, after miles and miles of road, this bad ass jeep (The BAMF), heading south from Alaska to San Francisco, swerved to Langley.  Look who ended up in our driveway.

Melanie & Martin at Fredley Home

.

An outstandingly fun rendezvous on Whidbey Island, to be followed by a California rendezvous, when next we head south.

Brad, Yessi, Dianne, Ed, Fran & Martin

Yessi, Dianne, Ed, Fran, Martin & Melanie

~~~

"A friend may be waiting behind a stranger's face."

~ Maya Angelou, Letter to My Daughter

Posted with Blogsy

i-Pad Blogging Blasphemy

I'm suffering from the intricacies, vagaries, and  idiosyncrasies of blogging on i-pad.  I'm snarled up in a sea of complexities, finding I must write on Pages; cut and paste to Blogsy, to add photographs; and then download to Blogger.  Finally on Blogger, I must edit the spacing and layout, because the computer tricksters mess around behind the screen doing nasty little tricks to my format.  After a bunch of fussing I can finally post.  

I'm sure there's a better way to blog on I-pad, but I have consulted with four of my wisest advisors -- my niece, Nina; Yessi and Brad; and my refuse-to-learn-Apple husband, Ed, who is othersize very computer savvy -- yet haven't discovered how to simplify this long, nasty, hair-pulling process.

There you have it.   Greg, and you other computer smart-folk, please weigh in.  

---

“I wonder why it is that when I plan a route too carefully, it goes to pieces, 

whereas if I blunder along in blissful ignorance  aimed in a fancied direction 

I get through with no trouble.   

- John Steinbeck, Travels with Charley:  In Search of America

Oops!

I apologize for a couple of older postings being posted a second time.  I was trying to figure out how to include a map with our travels so put two blog postings into a draft form while working on them.  Surprise!  Taking them out of draft form resulted in a second posting and another notification to you.  Plus the map didn't work out.  Sorry.  I'm not trying to pester you.

~~~

"Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new."

~ Albert Einstein

Heart Wrench

Hidden in the excitement of our adventure are our misgivings about being away from our much-loved kids.  Wrapped up in the desire to travel is the unburdening of our responsibilities.  No more cleaning gutters, mowing lawns, that kind of stuff.   But there's the emotional flip side of unburdening.  The heart wrench of seeing Brad and Yessi get smaller and smaller in our rearview mirror.  

Benton, Brad & Yessi, Saratoga Woods

On past cross-country road trips, I'd entertain myself by ruminating about covered wagon days.  As the speed-blurred road stretched out endlessly, I'd conjure up how it would feel to receive a letter once a month, or worse, once a year, or perhaps never, as was often the case. Pioneer lives unfolded -- births, diseases, marriages, deaths -- as the gruelingly difficult miles stretched out across the plains.  These families, the ones on the road, and the ones left behind, wondered and worried, sometimes never knowing the fate of their loved ones.

Benton, Brad & Yessi, Langley

As  modern travelers, we are rich with stay-in-touch-options -- frequent conversations,  sharing photographs, and even sending or receiving money.  We can connect with one another in ways our ancestors couldn't have imagined.   None of this is as good as a real hug, but it's darn good!   

Yessi & Brad hiking - Mt. Rainier

As departure draws near, I'm feeling a cluster of emotions gathering, ready to spill and overflow, from both the sadness of leaving and the eagerness of what's down the road.

~~~

"Love is a wonderful thing. You never have to take it away from one person to give it to another. There's always more than enough to go around."

~ Pamela de Roy

The Devil's in the Details

The Devil's in the Details, or so it is said.  We have been buried in details these last few weeks, as we  prepare for our departure, so are hoping our attentiveness is ousting the demons.  One of those detail topics is setting up computer apps, joining camping groups, and learning all we can about travel opportunities.

On our last trip we were gone a month and simply paid, with little question, the nightly camping fees.  Now, as we prepare to depart for a longer period, on a trip closely resembling our actual full-time adventure, we desire a more frugal approach.  How can we travel without paying high camping costs each night, becomes a driving question?  The average campground is about $30 a night, which adds up quickly.  Yet, stealth camping, worrying about being rousted out, doesn't sound too appealing either.  So I've been trying to find out what other budget-minded RVers do to minimize camping fees.

This past week I spent the better part of a day tracking down other travelers, especially those traveling in Sprinter Westfalias.  My breakthrough was, Travels with HaRVy.  The writer of Travels with HaRVy is Leslie, and we're now engaged in a delightful e-mail exchange.

HaRVy loaded and on the road.   Photo by Leslie.

Leslie and her husband, Al, are full-time Springer Westfalia travelers.    We're pleased to have found them and look forward to deepening our cyber friendship to an on-the-road friendship. 

Leslie has been a wealth of information.  She told us about Boondockers Welcome, a service to facilitate free driveway camping.  A little like Airbnb, but instead of a couch, room or apartment, it's a driveway.  They have made wonderful acquaintances using this service, Leslie reports.  An adjunct to Boondockers Welcome are the Frugal Shunpiker's Guides, written by the woman who formed Boondockers Welcome.

Shunpiker's Guides

Leslie also provided me with two additional resource choices for overnight stays.  First is Harvest Hosts offering free stays at wineries, farms and agri-tourism sites.  Given our love of food, wine and back roads, this seems like a perfect resource for us. The second, RVGolfClub, as the name implies, offers free stays at golf courses.  Ed was not intending to pack his clubs, but using this overnight option might challenge his resolve.

Then there are apps galore.  Apps for maps, campgrounds, motels, foreign languages and restaurants.  One I've already downloaded is AllStays RV and Camp App  and is designed to help RV travelers locate dump stations, propane, campgrounds, Walmart parking lot camping, showers, and more.  I've also downloaded the Ultimate Camp Ground App which provides public campground information. 

As we travel we will accumulate or toss apps, memberships and lists, depending on usefulness, but for now, all information is seen as an asset.   Nevertheless, like the items in our galley, they must prove their usefulness to stay on-board. 

~~~

"The difference between something good and something great is attention to detail."

~ Charles R. Swindoll

Beyond Pen and Paper

Blogs are phenomenal stay-in-touch tools.

My blog, like for many other bloggers, is my journal.   But, instead of the little locked book I had as a young girl, I publish this one for the entire world to see.  Mostly the world isn't interested, but friends and family are reading it, keeping me on my edit toes.  By publishing I also know I could become a common criminal if I broke copyright laws.  As William Feather said, "If we don't discipline ourselves, the world will do it for us."

When I post a quote I give credit.  Likewise, I try to respect copyright laws in regard to images, however, I've been guilty of small offenses.  I'm now in image stealing recovery, thanks to a good friend, author and blogger, Dan Petersen.  

Many artists will mark their images with a watermark to protect them.  I've always respected the watermarked images, but unmarked images I've "borrowed" on occasion.  Now I know better.  I will share only images I've cleared as "free to use or share."  Want more information?  See webIntegrity. 

Photo protected with watermark

Photo selected from Google's Advance Search and labeled
 "free to use or share"

Photo by Ed Anderson

Ed and I are often asked if we'll travel with our computer gear. Our answer is, yes!  First, we want to stay closely connected with family and friends so by using a combination of e-mail, blogging, texting, Skype, Facebook and our phones we should be thoroughly covered.  We'll want to research weather, bike paths, and current news.  We'll need maps, GPS and campground apps.   And, the most amazing part of all this is my i-phone will become our "personal hotspot", also known as tethering.   Wherever we have phone reception we will have internet.

I'm still stumbling and fumbling around using my i-pad and i-phone independently from their "mother ship", my desktop.  It's yet to be seen if I'll need a laptop too, but hoping not.  Unfortunately, this family of two is not in sync on computers so Ed will be using Microsoft and I will be using Apple.  We'll be packing lots of electronic gear.   Shoes, not so much.

~~~

"What a computer is to me is the most remarkable tool that we have ever come up with.  It's the equivalent of a bicycle for our minds."

~ Steve Jobs, Memory and Imagination:  New Pathways to the 
Library of Congress  

Tales of Travel

It is amazing what can be found when one goes digging.  My topic of late is adventure, and look at what I just found.  A couple of articles about The Zapps 2011 and The Zapps 2013 and their car, Grandpa.  Grandpa has a more formal name, but Grandpa makes me smile so it's the one I will use.  Grandpa is a 1928 Graham-Paige vintage car and he has taken this family of six to 40 countries in 13 years.  The adventure began with two but now there are six.  Four children were born on the road, each  in a different country -- U.S., Argentina, Canada, and Australia.  

Latest word from the Zapps:   no stopping yet.

Adventure, defined as a major life undertaking, certainly fits the Zapp family.   As Ed and I prepare for our own adventure we are wildly curious about other adventure travelers and can't seem to get enough of their tales of travel.  We are grasping the knack of how to design our own adventure from following theirs.

We have learned that nothing can stop us if we stay devoted to our dream.  We've also learned that we must trust and value the people who believe in us, staying motivated by telling everyone about what we're planning to do and banish all nay-sayers.  From my experience, I'd say we must especially banish the nay-sayers.  There are so many concerns for us.  "Where will you get your mail?"  "You're not going to leave your beautiful home, are you?"  "How will you pay your bills?"  "Won't you miss your family and friends?" "You're kinda old for this."  "What if you have health problems?"  and on and on…

Yep, all of these questions are issues, some could even become insurmountable, but  right now they aren't.   We might break down and have a horrible experience waiting for repairs.  Or we might break down and meet charming folks who help us through the ordeal, sealing a new friendship.  As far as being too old, yep, we're getting up there but next year we'll be even older.  This can't wait.  We will miss our family and friends, naturally! but we'll  be in close touch.  It is the age of the computer.  On Facebook you won't know if we're down the street or in another country.

Our wandering vagabond life has been set in motion.  Awk, I just noticed another definition for vagabond is leading an unsettled, irresponsible, or disreputable life.  Hum, I guess there is reason for worry.

~~~

"The only question in life is whether or not you are going to answer a hearty 'YES!' to your adventure."

~ Joseph Campbell

Down and out bumfuzzled!

I have been unable to figure out how to download photographs from my iPad to my blog, even with my niece's help.   The photos have been loaded onto Google+, thinking it is the new Picasa, but there is more to it than that, and it's beyond me at this point.  Or, perhaps it's beyond Google+.  Who knows.  As a result I'm not posting until I get home and have the use of a "real" computer. 

---

" A TV can insult your intelligence, but nothing rubs it in like a computer."

- Author unknown

Hundreds and Hundreds of Trees

One of my favorite blogs, Off the Rails, really got me to thinking.  Dan writes about a person's special thing in life?  What fuels a passion and what keeps it fueled?  Why do some have it and why don't others?  Dan definitely has figured out his special thing. In fact, he has many special things that give substance and meaning to his life -- birds, gardening, photography, writing.  He appears to pursue them all with determination and focus and writes about his pursuits in interesting depth on his blog.  Read it.  You'll be glad you did.

Dan

Ed and I, as we set out in Thistle, don't want to just travel, we want to live our lives with focus, intention, and purpose.  We each want that special thing. The topic of the significance of life seems particularly pertinent to us retired folks as we've completed our other major tasks that gave us focus -- raising our families and having careers with paychecks.  When the children have moved on and the jobs  are gone, how do we remain vital both to others and to ourselves?  How do we avoid feeling idle and useless.  As Dan writes in Off the Rails, "Some friends seem to blossom in the second lap of their lives.  Others sink into depression."  How do some find that special thing that keeps them burning with enthusiasm?

I have a friend, Anne, who has deep meaning in her life despite events that would have overwhelmed others.    Anne stays totally and completely and enthusiastically focused on her work, on her life, on her special thing.  She has a passion that shines and inspires all those around her.   She doesn't waiver.   Anne is a weaver and although I do not weave, I follow Weavewright, because there's such optimism and such inspiration and because it is impossible not to love Anne and what she creates.  

My husband is another person with a passion.  He is a programmer, a philosopher, and a psychologist.  He sets goals and objectives and stays on track -- mostly.  He's a student of life and understands the dilemma of lost focus.  He is striving to address this issue in a way to help others find their special thing.  Mr. Ed, as I affectionally call him, is writing coaching software to assist people in getting to the core of who they are, who they want to be, at a cost they can afford.  His coaching site, Growth-Ring-Coaching, is focused on the question of a person's personal sense of value.  Growth-Ring-Coaching is designed for all ages but is especially useful for the retired who too often find themselves unemployed from life.

I am personally struggling with this question of my special thing.   Although I have planted hundreds and hundreds of trees, metaphorically I want to plant hundreds and hundreds more.     As we drive away in Thistle I leave much of what defines me behind.    Ed will bring his work on the road.  I will need to learn to pursue those wannabe passions that for years were shoved to the back shelf.   Part of my Thistle Adventure will be to turn those wannabes into passions-in-action.

My motivation is strong as I want to be an interesting and admired old lady rather than old lady cast aside.  In my mind that means I need to have passions, interests, and lots of new ideas.  I will need to study, practice and strive for creativity, involvement and talents beyond travel.  I have defined myself as a landscape designer, gardener, mom, home owner, and community volunteer for my entire adult life.   Now I need to recognize that was then, this is now, and find my new special thing.

Yessi, Fran & Brad and yes, I will always be a mom, but my kids are adults and certainly
 don't need me looking over their shoulders!

This topic is evolving as I write.  My question, "What fuels a passion and what keeps it fueled?" is a question of great depth.  It will demand a great deal of consideration.   I will have more to say about it, no doubt again and again, but this I know for sure:  I will pay close attention to the passions of my friends.   They'll teach me what it takes to be a "pit bull" in  tackling  their passions.   My head is now spinning with ideas.

~~~

"Some people, no matter how old they get, never lose their beauty -- they merely move it from their faces into their hearts.

~Martin Buxbaum

Bumfuzzle

Bumfuzzle means to confuse or fluster, but it's also the name of a blog.   Surprisingly, a blog that I started reading and read from beginning to end.  Curious because I usually read a sentence or two of someone's blog and then move on.  

Bumfuzzle.com is well written but not full of phrases that made me sit straight up in my chair and insist Ed must read too, nor did it have the drama or suspense of a good adventure story, although it was about a family's adventures.   I was captivated by Pat's writing and by the lives being lived by Pat, his wife, Ali, and their two children Ouest and Lowe, but I'm still trying to figure out why I'm fascinated.

This is us. I’m Pat and I do all the writing around here. And that’s Ali, she started dating me when she was sixteen and just couldn’t get enough; so eventually she married me, sailed around the world with me, raced across America with me, drove from Alaska to Argentina and all over Europe in a ’58 VW Bus with me, finally allowed me to impregnate her, drove to Mexico in a ’65 Porsche 356 with me, gave birth to our Mexican baby girl Ouest (pronounced West), moved onto another sailboat, got frisky with me, had a Mexican baby boy this time, named him Lowe (pronounced Low), sailed all over Mexico with me, sold that boat, and now drives all over the States with me in a ’66 Dodge Travco. We’ve got a pretty good life.

Little things pleased me, like Pat and his family have roots in the northwest.  But even more fun is they were enjoying the Whidbey Island Fair, a stone's throw from our home in Langley, as I was reading their blog.  Plus, they're traveling the States in a bus, as Ed and I are about to do too.  But those coincidences don't exactly explain my obsession.   Perhaps because they are a family of smiles and appeal and look at their darling bus.   Nope, that doesn't explain it either.  There are lots of appealing people writing blogs about interesting things that bore me in the first five minutes.

Lowe, Ali, Ouest and Pat with their cuter-than-imaginable RV.

Of additional amazement to me is that I not only read the blog Bumfuzzle but the book, Bumfuzzle.  The book is about Pat and Ali, before children, sailing around the world, and I don't even sail. Same  writer, same curiosity, same addiction -- I'm hooked and puzzled at the same time.   Did the appeal stop there?  No, indeed not.  I've now purchased Live on the Margin, co-authored by Pat, about both living on the margin and investing on the margin.   Investing?  This might be my first investing book ever.

What I'm going to do is reread the blog to see what Pat's writing techniques are.  Perhaps I can figure this out, although I must say, the paragraph above, written by Pat, is darn good.   Bumfuzzle is definitely true to its definition for me.  I am both confused and flustered by my obsession.

~~~

"Well, I'll be liter'ly bumfuzzled!" he exclaimed.  "Ef it ain't John Ericson!  I knowed yore company was in the fight last night, an' I thought o' you when I heerd the grape-shot-a- plinkin' out thar.   But hang me, ef you don't look sick ur half starved!  Sally, give 'im some'n't' eat.  They don't feed the rebs much.  Johnny, she's been a-pinin' fer you ever sence you enlisted, an 'last night durin' the fight she mighty nigh went distracted."

 ~ Will Nathaniel Harben, Northern Georgia Sketches