Lucky you. Getting to go on such a long worry-free vacation.
It’s a sentiment I hear every now and then. One I can’t help but disagree with. True, I’m undoubtedly blessed, fully enjoy the adventure, but OMD is not about luck or ease.
Stubborn determination, intentional sacrifice, obsessive knowledge-seeking, a supportive can-do community, these are the ingredients of the adventure. Luck tinged, but powered by hard work and a positive attitude.
It’s not a vacation, it’s real life. Marked with the full spectrum – excitement, boredom, fear, fun, stress – of human experience. Much more difficult than the steady, routine-filled life I leave behind, but fulfilling to the core.
Having made it to Colorado, I luxuriate in time spent with family. Sink into the pleasure of familiar places, the comfort of loving people. Feel a tug to park Rufio, scroll through pictures of the adventure from a secure home base, create a highlight reel and live off of that. But then I remember the kid I want to be, the adventurer I envision becoming. I’m not there yet. Still have so much more to learn, to experience, to discover.
So I repack Rufio. Get ready for the next leg of the adventure. Not because it’s easy, but because it is challenging, important.
As Brene Brown says,
You can choose courage or you can choose comfort. You cannot have both.
Motorcycling, vanlife-ing, any type of long-term traveling is not about ease, comfort or carefree fun. It is not a stress-free vacation.
Operation Moto Dog is real life.