Have Passport, Will Travel

Not too long ago I wrote about traveling to Houston for my aunt’s funeral.  It was a tough but good week.  It’s always hard to say goodbye to a loved one but on the other hand it is a wonderful opportunity to get together with family that you don’t see often enough and to catch up.  So it’s bittersweet I guess.

We should probably be a little better about keeping up with our family when loved ones aren’t dying….but we tend to live like there are a million tomorrows.

Anyway, my dad was having a really tough time with the loss of his sister.  My mom took it hard as well.  Even though her and my dad divorced many moons ago, her and my aunt Ann were the same age….so it all starts to hit home right?   For me, it’s the realization that my parents aren’t going to be around forever.  UGH.

My dad has not always been an easy person for me to get along with.  We had a strained relationship for many years.  We see things very differently in the world.  I’m a cup half full kind of gal and he is a cup almost empty kind of guy.  He’s agnostic/atheist, I’m Christian.  He’s temperamental, I’m laid back.  The list goes on and on.  So needless to say there hasn’t been a lot of common ground.

However, the one thing my dad has always been passionate about is travel.  Not that he has done a lot of it, because he hasn’t.  But he has always dreamed of travel.  I have always been passionate about travel and I do it every chance I get.  It’s probably the reason I have chosen to move around the country and abandoned my roots back in Texas.  Now the thing that has always been on my dad’s bucket list is Africa, specifically the Serengeti in Tanzania.

After talking it over with my husband, I called my dad.  “Dad, do you have a passport?”.  He said, “yes I do.  It probably needs updating.  Why?”  I said, “do you have anything going on in October?”  He replied, “I don’t think so.  What’s up?”

“Dad, we’re going to Tanzania on an African safari!”

Little did I know how those words would transform his state of mind and our relationship!  So that’s what I have been doing instead of blogging lately….planning our trip!

I’m so looking forward to this big adventure!  It is certainly the most bold trip I have ever taken.  We have created packing lists, vaccination lists, medication lists, and on and on.  I purchased a new camera and I have started taking photography classes in the evening.  I’m reviewing every YouTube video I can get my hands on.  I want this trip to be epic.

I’m already thinking about the next trip that I will plan….a trip to Italy with my mom.  She has always wanted to go to Tuscany and I have always wanted to travel to the Amalfi coast.

If there is one thing I brought home with me from saying goodbye to my aunt is that you only have one life to live.  Don’t wait to live it.  Don’t say someday I will ‘fill in the blank’.  You have numbered days and no one knows the number but God so we better make the best of it!

Stay tuned though…I will be sharing our big adventure here before you know it!