22 May 2016, 13:09 CDT

As I sit in my home study today, I think about the wonderful places we have been, the wonderful places yet to see, and the wonderful adventures of everyday life. I dream, I hope, and I reminisce, all at the same time. I have such a yearning for travel that if I don’t have something planned and booked, I am nearly beside myself – even if it’s a camping trip to a state park.

Why? Because I didn’t travel for so very long. It took me nearly 30 years to get back to the ocean, after an incredibly long and overly ridiculous hiedous. Also, I want to see the world. I always have. Ludie’s coffee table books inspired me to see many distant lands and never give up on the need to travel. I also have been on many cruises. I like them, as you get to see a lot, but I also think they give insight into the way people behave when trapped together for several days on end. I see people on those who are almost too old to travel, if there is such a thing. Those people who sit around the boat because they just don’t feel like getting out of their room and want to stay on the boat because they are tired. I don’t want to be 75 and just then start traveling. I want to enjoy every single minute now. You never know when tomorrow is your last tomorrow.

I just booked an excursion for a trip we are taking soon. I’m excited about it, although I believe it will be a very sad and overhwhelming experience. I think it will make me humbled and think a lot. I’m very grateful for the upcoming experience, as it’s been on my bucket list for years. I can hardly wait to experience it first hand and write about it here.

Travel, unlike so many other things in life, makes me sane. Keeps me grounded while giving me wings to soar. Makes me grateful for the things in life that some people take for granted. Makes me thankful all the more for the ability to do so. After 14 years of nearly nothing, I certainly wasn’t going to put myself in that spot again.