Somewhere along the way, the travel bug left me. I like to be home- close to my creature comforts. I have everything I need right outside my own backyard: mountain trails, wildlife, seasons, wildflowers, birds, views and nature galore surround me. I like my bed with my pillow, my electric kettle, sauna blanket, crystals and singing bowls. My version of un-fun is a road trip.
It was a blessing and a curse that my children grew up traveling back and forth from CO to SoCal, HI & FL with their father for holidays and school breaks. They've been to the Bahamas, the Amazon and Machu Picchu. They love the ocean, the salt-water and the sand. They barely remember the trip I took them to Disneyland. Their travel memories don't really include me.
November 29, 2021:
Here we are…a 17 hour road trip from home in the redwoods, near the beach for a week. I started the day with a quick tour of the gardens next to my son’s studio apartment. I stopped in my tracks, "I’ve seen this before." He questioned, "Like you've been here?" I said, "No, in a dream. Maybe 6 months ago.”
It was nearly exactly as I saw it in the dream. Even the context of the dream was related to standing there with him in the present time. As he continued to tour me around this private garden, I was envisioning the perfect container for an intimate yoga festival. I was falling in love with the simplicity of the life he has set up. I have lived in Northern California twice in my adult life. Colorado is home, but NorCal is my second choice.
We headed to Santa Cruz shortly thereafter to hike in the redwoods. I couldn't get enough. I don't love the ocean, but seeing my children feel right at home near the ocean felt soothing. I don't recall ever driving that stretch of coastal highway, so I let my daughter take the driver's seat so I could take in the views. I've hiked in the redwoods. They've hiked in the redwoods, but we had never hiked in the redwoods together. The following day we did the touristy scenes of San Francisco. They were babies the last time I was there with them.
There is definitely a shift when you realize your children are becoming adults. Not only becoming adults, but well-adjusted young adults. They are self-sufficient. They can live on their own and cook their own meals, do their own laundry, figure out how to pay bills. I look back at my visualizations from several years ago when prompted to imagine a time in the future..."what do you want to see?" This was it; outdoors, playing with my grown children, happy, all smiling, in awe of nature and being together.
It wasn't a charmed life to get here. It took some deep soul lessons to get us to where we are now....and we have arrived.