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Enjoy the grand adventure! I envy you that freedom to go wherever and do whatever! It sounds like a great grand adventure! If you ever make it around Ohio be sure to stop by and have dinner with us! ​ I'm glad that the worst is behind you and you have found peace with the changes in your life, and then excitement about what is to come next! *Hugs* May the road ahead bring you joy, laughter, and adventure! Beautiful photo in which you look ready to tackle the world! And I really really envy you the Minnie! Grandpa had a Minnie Winnie after he sold the pull behind Airstream, we had so much fun in that. : ) Mostly at Assateague Island and Indian Lake, but the where mattered less than the adventure. ​I miss that rv and all the silly fun we had in it.

Emma, I wish you all the happiness you can find on this journey! It's not an easy path, but it's well worth it and it seems like you've really thought through a lot and have a good vision of how to get started. Between that and the courage you've already demonstrated I have no doubt you'll find your authentic self. I also admire how you managed things with your wife. It was no doubt tempting at times just to leave (I say that from experience, having been married so many years ago), but you stayed and took care of what needed to be done. So add persistence to the strengths mentioned above :-) I'm looking forward to hearing about your travels - literal and personal :-) Xoxo Chrissy

I realized yesterday how much this kind of exploration really works for me. I love traveling without much of an itinerary, allowing myself to enjoy the experience, confront challenges, and go with the flow. For example, I'm finding that Mesa is a little chilly for me and decided to move this coming Friday. I used the weather app on my iPhone to look for warmer areas within a couple of hundred miles and was surprised to see that the Flagstaff area (Grand Canyon, Sedona) is about 60 degrees so I made a reservation there. But yesterday on the radio I heard that it's 30 degrees there, and snowing! Brrr. I did some more work on the iPhone and I don't know why but it shows the wrong info for Flagstaff, so I cancelled the reservation and am now heading to Santa Margarita, California on Friday. And yes, the time for introspection is wonderful. I keep coming across things serendipitously. Yesterday while driving around I heard the TED Radio Hour on NPR, a show that discussed the 5 senses we have. One interview (on vision) featured Isaac Lidsky, who started losing his sight starting at age 12 and was completely blind in his early 20s. What a remarkable man. When he first heard his diagnosis he literally thought his life was over, that he was doomed to a lonely and unhappy life. Somehow he realized that he could approach the problem by reframing, especially with two questions: 1) Precisely what problem am I experiencing now? 2) What exactly am I going to do about it, now? I found this very moving. All too often I get caught up in my worries and fears, and feel lost. I can't help but recall Lidsky's situation and find his questions so convenient and useful. In case you'd like to listen to the NPR show, here's a link. Look for the show about the 5 senses: http://www.npr.org/podcasts/510298/ted-radio-hour

And you are seeing the world while you do it! So many people never go beyond a 50 mile radius of their home, even for vacation, it's kinda sad. Especially since the modern era gives us the physical ability to see it all like never before, an 8 hour plane jaunt to Britain vs. months on a ship. So many people just...don't. Explore your insides through exploring your world my Emma!