Tag: adventure

I remember wandering in and instantly being transported back to another era, the 1920’s and ‘30’s: a jazz record on the Victrola; sultry, sweet female voice–husky from whiskey and cigarettes–singing of far-off places, muted, languid, trumpet melody. Just ahead, off to the side: an Army-green,  weather-beaten jeep with muddy...

I was in my 20’s before I went camping for the very first time—if you don’t count the overnight slumber party in a big tent in Lizzie Warner’s backyard across the street when we were 13. I’d married an outdoorsman passionate about hunting, fishing and hiking who was just...

You can’t read a travel or adventure blog without tripping over camping. Frustrated by lockdowns and seeking socially-distant alternatives to vacations and getaways, people are hitting the road and sleeping in vans, campers and tents. What was once reserved for grade-school scout troops or extreme backpackers has suddenly become...

Another ongoing collateral casualty of COVID is the American vacation. Not just the traditional two- weeks-a-year off from work but the shorter three- and four-day holiday weekend breaks and summer weekends at the lakeside cottage, mountain cabin or beach bungalow. Airlines, cruise lines, hotels and restaurants have all taken...

Complacency is the enemy. Joseph Campbell, detailer and explore of mankind’s myths and myth-making, called settling for the status quo “falling asleep at the river”—the river you were meant to cross as part of your divine story. (Everyone has a divine story). A scholar and writer I respect called...

Disaster was still hanging around even after the trip from Purgatory was over. It clung to me like a musty smell, and each relieved sigh seemed to be followed by another unsuspecting revelation. My brakes had failed, I had visited four car places just to get a diagnosis, had...

Big disasters usually arrive solo, but small disasters almost always travel in packs, like wolves. The brake trouble I had upon arriving at a regional convention in York, PA didn’t interfere with the next day’s activities at the golf resort. I was part of a sampling of groups from...

An alternate definition I saw for adventure was: Travel + Disaster I’m tempted to downplay the times when a trip seemed so perfect in the planning then did an about-face and began rolling down the long slope toward utter chaos, finally landing like shards of glass in some unasked-for...

I wasn’t intending to post about the Coronavirus. My plans to become location-independent and launch a real—not-virtual—series of travels to foster and track Third Act adventures might have been born during the pandemic, but they are not really related to it. The idea to experience more of the world...

This is a blog about not settling. About not slipping into a familiar comfort of memories, half-regrets and complacency during the last chapter—the latter 30 years or so–of life. Not continuing on the path of least resistance. I know firsthand how our later years bring greater physical challenges. People...