Well, friends, it's on - The Lovely Susan (my wife's name is more than just that... it is a title!) and I are about to embark upon what we like to call our Great Middle-Aged Adventure. We are going to be exploring and savoring the mysteries and wonderments of Central and South America for the next six months (at least). The general idea is to take off that time to rest, relax, recreate and regale our friends (that would be you) and family (that would be... well... our family) with thrilling tales of travel and residence in some of the most beautiful lands God has ever created. We are setting out on an odyssey of legendary importance, and we will be chronicling our experiences and observations for your reading pleasure and enlightenment! Take the time to (vicariously) live and travel with us as we lay bare the exotic bounty of Central and South America... complete with photos!
Ah, but I hear you ask: "So, Tom... what exactly goes into preparing for a vagabondian excursion into the heretofore untracked wilds of these dark and primitive lands?" Okay, so maybe you're not asking me that, but I'll tell you anyway: the groundwork for this exodus was laid months ago by The Lovely Susan - who is the most brilliant travel planner I have EVER known - who poured countless hours into research on the places we'll be going, and establishing relationships with numerous people already living "in country," so we won't be just diving in blind. Single-handedly, she made the travel arrangements, secured the reservations and did all of the necessary brainwork to get us up, up and away. My role in all this is to basically carry the luggage.
Okay, all fine and well. But this blog post was supposed to be about my feelings about leaving the good ole US of A for regions as yet unexplored (by us). So here, in a nutshell, are my musings:
- I'm looking forward to the trip with great excitement. Susan's enthusiasm for this is so inspiring and encouraging, any feelings of trepidation or uneasiness are easily quelled by just the look in her eyes as she describes all the fantastic experiences awaiting us.
- I am a bit concerned with how we'll support ourselves on this Adventure. We're both leaving our jobs and using what money we've saved up, plus other monies we managed to make by selling most of our possessions at garage sales and consignment shops (oh, yeah - there's also the hope that we will earn some sort of income from this blog, and by doing some travel and copy writing, as well as selling some photographs). But Susan assures me that we will have plenty of ducats for the entire stay, and our money will go much farther "down there" than it does here, and I trust her completely, so...
- I will miss some fantastic folks and friends we've made here in the US, but there's always Fa(r)cebook for keeping in touch, and hopefully, you will keep reading, and tell your other friends about, this little literary endeavour of ours.
- I wonder what the social/political/spiritual climate will be like in the places we plan to visit. What are their thoughts on us "Americans Who Speak Limited Spanish But Are Learning?" Will we be good ambassadors for our country, and more important, will we be good witnesses for our Lord? Will we make friends among the locals, or will we be seen as merely more "gringos" to grudgingly tolerate until we shove off for home?
All legitimate concerns, and I have several more (which I won't bore you with), but my sense of adventure transcends all of them with a "let's see what's what when we get there" philosophy. As I said, I am very excited about this, and look forward to the entire experience as a Great Big Middle-Aged Adventure..!
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