I’ve come so far…..

It’s Saturday, September 9, 2017, and the sun has set. It will be my last Saturday before we start our journey to Pagosa Spring River Campground.

I may not be connected to the internet, (I should be, but I might be very busy).

If so, the next time I share will be around September 21^st.

So… how did I get to this point?

Well, I thought about traveling for some time. However, on May 21, 2017, I wrote in my journal…

5-21-17

Should I…?

It is a dark two in the morning. Logically, so I am told, the early morning hours can be filled with doubt and negative thoughts.

Well, it’s dark outside, with a thin sliver of moon and 76 degrees in Surprise, Arizona this May 21, 2017.

I can’t sleep. Well, I haven’t been able to sleep a full six hours. I usually don’t sleep more than two or three hours at a stretch. That unhealthy sleep cycle has been happening for several years.

Should I or not consider purchasing a Casita?

It’s complicated. It is a mosaic of my life. So many conflicting factors are messing up my mind.

I’m from a disappearing generation. I was listening to the radio yesterday. I was driving to our exercise area… It’s thirteen miles from the house. We go there twice a day… Six in the morning and again about six in the evening.

It was a sort of info-commercial that made sense. The show had something to do with real-estate. It was a pitch to get involved in buying real estate to make a lot of money.

The topic hook was fear. He even spelled it out. False Expectations Appearing Real. No problem with that acronym, I knew it and had used it many times when sharing information with people.

However, I enjoyed how the radio host linked the comparison between the older generation (like me) to the millenniums. I think that is what he called them. It was the folks in their 20’s and 30’s. He said they had no fear.

He went on to explain how the older generations were taught to fear the future. We were taught to be conservative. To save. It was easy to point out the loss of income and jobs of the depression and how it wiped out financial futures of millions of people. My folks lived through that period, and I was raised with the notion of saving money and securing a job. In fact, during those times, many people had the same job their entire working life.

I was a believer. It continues to influence my decision-making today.

Then the host pointed out, though a short story, how a bunch of CEO’s had to be taught a lesson from a youthful waiter.

The CEO’s had enjoyed a dinner and walked out to find their car had a flat tire. Imagine this scene. These well-established leaders were used to driving their car. No one knew how to change a tire, or even if a spare was included.

Enter the youthful waiter. He pulls out his cell phone, navigates to an app that describes the exact details of the vehicle and how to change the tire.

The point is the youth didn’t need all those skills we had to learn. The answer was in a portable device.

We were taught that education was the key to success. You went to college and got the education. You got the job, and you advanced, and that was the path to success.

Back then, it was just about the only path to success for most people. Education was accomplished by traditional schoolhouse training or by on-the-job learning a trade.

Now, more and more people are using portable devices to solve problems. They just look it up.

What did all that have to do with me?

Quite a lot. My entire life was influenced by conservative decision-making methods. I always took the safe road. Logically, I weighed the pros and cons and usually selected the safe road. My average was fairly high because I lived in fear. Fear of making the wrong decision.

I am not the author of this wonderful piece of wisdom … Life is composed of two words. LIFE and IF. As a single word… LIFE… Encompasses the total experience of a person.

However, most people don’t live… As if life was on a single level playing field. They live by making decisions, and that is where the little word… ‘IF’ comes into play.

Many people are influenced when that little word becomes a primary consideration. Mentally, they view it like this… lIFe.

And it becomes even more noticeable when you hear people say, IF ONLY….

Why didn’t they? How many times have I let fear stop me from doing what I would have liked to have done?

So, back to … Should I?

Should I buy a Casita and go traveling? At my age? With my limited financial resources? With my somewhat physically-challenged condition?

I can list at least 24 excellent, logical reasons why I shouldn’t even consider going forward.

I can only list one reason why I should. Unfortunately, I automatically think it is not a logical reason.

That reason is… Because I want to.

I’m 78, and I don’t have a real ‘bucket list’ need to fill. In fact, I don’t even have a destination. I would just hitch up and go.

Can you hear it? That saying…” There’s no fool like an old fool.”

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Since that day I’ve been challenged. It’s been both frustrating and exciting. It’s Wonderful!

The Casita is parked in front of the house. It’s plugged in, and the fridge is cooling. I’m darting in and out with items to fill the many tiny spaces. I’ve checklists to help me.

Bernie and Chris are puzzled. They sense a change. Tuesday morning can’t come quick enough.