My Need for Adventure
Is it because of COVID-19, or is it just a personal feeling that I need to get out and do something more? Does everyone feel this need to grow? I follow the Bored Millennial and she wrote about Reverse Engineering Your Life. Basically, start with creating your obituary; what would you like someone to say? In his early life, Stan was very active, but in his 60s, life was mostly boring. This is not what I want it to say. It’s an interesting challenge that is specific to how I have been feeling.
Lately, I have been feeling unmotivated and almost a little trapped by my circumstances. I am an entrepreneur who owns a successful business. I employ office staff that work remotely and a team of specialized trainers that travel and do on-site training. I live with my wife of 27 years; I am happily married. We live in a downtown condo with our industrious 2 cats, overlooking Hamilton Bay in Ontario, Canada. I have 3 adult Children who live on their own and 3 Grandchildren. I am the second youngest of 9 siblings.
So why do I still feel this need to do more? Don’t I have enough on my plate? Hell no. There are things I want to do! Places I want to see. In 2022, I decided to travel abroad, so I went to Seoul, South Korea, for a couple of weeks and then to Thailand for 6 weeks. I went to Ireland twice and visited the UK for a bit. While in the UK, I took an ocean survival course. (More on that later in another post)
I spent quite a bit of time in my second career in a sedentary position and, as a result, have become overweight. As a 63-year-old boomer*, I regret some of those choices. At the beginning of the company, I was constantly on the road. Later, I spent a lot of time at a desk. Looking back, I realize I put too much time into perfection. As a business owner, perfection is often not even noticed.
I have decided to travel around North America in a van. Travelling in a van will give me better control over the where, when, and why. The van will have a kitchen, bed, shower, and bathroom in addition to some storage. I will need to have a minimalist existence, which I will embrace wholeheartedly. My wife often claims that I tend to stick to a fairly small wardrobe selection despite having a full dresser and closet.
I will receive the built-out van later this month. I asked my wife if she was interested in such travel, and she was not. She likes to live in comfort and enjoys staying at home. She says she has friends and activities that she enjoys.
Am I being selfish in this pursuit? I have been told that I am. I disagree. Perhaps it would be selfish to run off if we were newly married or we had small children. We are far away from those days. We have lived a lifetime together; we are happy and can survive time apart. When you think about your bucket list, do you always envision doing everything with your partner? Most people do not.
There are trips that would be more fun together. For instance, I would like to travel to Iceland and drive the Ring Road. I think we will make that trip together. Or we can travel abroad together. Driving around New Zealand would also be a fun adventure. We have been on five cruises, including Alaska, and we have enjoyed those.
We are very different travellers, though. Jenn likes to go around and see the sites. She will research the area so that we can see all the historic locations. I am a street photographer, so I always slow down the adventure; I look for people, things, colours, contrasts, shadows, and signs. She has gotten used to my ways and continues on while I am stopped way behind, photographing an interesting sign on a wall.
Have you ever travelled without your partner? Would you travel separately? She might fly out to meet me before I visit places she wants to see. I have watched several YouTube videos of vanlifers visiting here or there. I would say, wouldn’t you like to see that?
And she, more often than not, replies, “No, not particularly”…
*Some people say the 1960s generation are not boomers, but by the date, we are! 1946 to 1964.