So here is the story so far...
About a month ago, a friend posted on Facebook asking if anyone was up for driving across the country, from Chicago to San Francisco with him. He was leaving the next day. The idea of driving across the country is pretty scary itself, let alone only having 24 hours to do it.
Thats not the type of person I am. I've always enjoyed the IDEA of adventures, but nothing more. Actually executing the ideas scared the crap out of me. There was no way I could just hop in the car with him and leave, right?
Wrong.
I thought about it for a few minutes, and made a couple of phone calls. I secured an emergency flight back home if needed, and that eased my anxiety a bit. Anxiety I had for a trip I hadn't even confirmed yet. Could I really do this? I've seen short films and follow several people on youtube that do it all the time. Surely it can't be that scary, right?
Wrong.
Everything seemed to be pretty simple, all we would be doing is making it from point A to point B. The idea of travelling like this always interested me, but I thought it best to just live vicariously through other people. That is pretty easy to do these days. I wanted to take this trip so terribly bad, however I had a feeling as soon as we left, I would regret it. Yet something inside just kept telling me that I had to do this. I made one more phone call, to my mother.
Usually the voice of extreme reason, I knew if anyone could talk me out of it, she could. I knew I would need some support back home, setting up possible flights, train tickets, and places to stay. The only person I could ask for that sort of help would be my mother, and if she couldn't do it, the trip was over before it begain.
The mix of emotions I had right before she picked up was one of the most beautiful experiences of my life. I had always talked about doing something like this, but I thought I would actually DO it. Many late nights were spent talking with friends and discussing how amazing it would be to drive across the country. People would say I was crazy or insane, and that they could not believe I would actually try to do something like that.
Little did they know, I was lying.
Little did I know, I wasn't.
The phone kept ringing. I knew if she didn't answer, I would not be going and it would just be another pipe dream on the pile of already massive things I wished to accomplish in my life.
"Go for it", she said.
I could not believe my ears. My mother, the quiet, reserved and amazingly sweet lady that she is, was telling me to do the most insane and crazy thing I've ever thought up. She said she backed me 100%, and would help me in any way possible.
That was it. It was happening. Only it actually wasn't because I hadn't even contacted the person going on the trip yet.
Take a deep breath. Learn to swim.
Over the next few days/weeks, I will tell my story and the experinces I've had. I have only twice in my life used the phrase "life changing", and I can tell you those experiences were almost nothing in comparison to what was about to happen to me.
I invite you to read and hopefully enjoy my story. If I'm really lucky, I will inspire someone to do what I have done and change their life for the better.
Here we go. Buckle up.
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