Greetings from State College, PA

It’s been an awesome trip so far.  Here are some of the highlights:

• Visiting my cousins in and around DC!  They rock!  (Thanks again for letting me stay with you guys!)
• A day exploring the National Mall, including visits to a plethora of monuments and memorials, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, and the National Archives.  Total Miles Walked: 8.
• Playing Wii for the first time.  I have the Wii physical prowess of a 57-year old (literally — I took the Wii “Fitness Test”), but I still loved it.
• Learning the game Killer Bunnies.
• Petting Zoo with Nat.
• Our day of intrigue at the International Spy Museum in DC.  We signed up for “Operation Spy” thing, where we became spies and had to solve a mystery, before heading into the museum itself.  Good stuff.
• Tour of Penn State in State College, PA.
• Lunch at Spat’s Cafe.  I give this place two thumbs up.  If you ever find yourself in State College, you have to give this Cajun place a try.  Great food and atmosphere.
• Getting lost on Mt. Nittany with Tamara.  We’re still not quite sure how it happened, but what should have been a total hike of two hours to the lookout, turned into a five and a half hour hike to nowhere.  Needless to say, we’re a little sore today.  I enjoyed the adventure though.  It felt like good preparation for the pilgrimage.

Overall, this trip has provided me with lots of fun activities, but also good down-time to help me transition from “work life” to my next phase in life, which I suppose I’ll start calling “nomad life.”  (I realized that between mid-July and November, the longest I’ll stay in one place is less than 3 weeks.)

A few times now, since I started traveling last week, my thoughts have turned to work.  I’ll remember a project or something and add that to my mental to-do list for when I return to the office.  I guess since I worked there for eight years, it’s taking my brain some time to realize that I’m not just on vacation right now.  It’s been interesting working through that and reminding myself that I can let it all go.

The other thing that has been happening with me is that, as I cross things off my to-do lists (like moving out of my apartment, the MI camping trip, my last day of work, going to DC) I find myself with less and less to focus on, thus leaving more and more room to mentally and spiritually and physically prepare for my upcoming pilgrimage.

Anyway, I’ll be in State College for a few more days before heading to Pittsburgh and meeting up with more family.  Tonight I’m headed to a Spikes game (single A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates)!  Tonight’s promotional activity at the Spikes game: Baseball Bingo!!  (Two of my favorite activities combined!  How awesome is that?)

DC here I come

I headed to DC this afternoon to spend some time with family, and to play tourist.  If you know the DC area well and have a suggestion for a place I should definitely visit, let me know!  I’ll be there for a few days before heading on to PA. 

Until next time…

Wild Blue Yonder

I’m back from my trip to Sleeping Bear Dunes National Park, Michigan. A few friends and I took the ferry over to South Manitou Island and spent three nights camping there. Being in nature always makes me feel closer to God, so it felt great to stretch my spiritual muscles, and well as my physical ones with hiking and swimming.

The highlight of the trip came on Monday when a friend and I hiked out to the western edge of the island, home to 400-foot perched dunes.  We started at Weather Station campground and headed west. Our first stop was Florence Lake, then we continued on to the bluff overlooking the Wreck of the Morazan:

Wreck of the Morazan (1960), South Manitou Island, MI

The trail continued on and eventually led up the dunes to a 360-degree view of North Manitou Island, mainland Michigan, and Lake Michigan. It was stunning.

It was standing there, on the edge of a 400-foot dune, overlooking the wild, blue yonder of Lake Michigan, that I realized I had just found the exact physical location that mirrored my “location” in life.

What I mean by that is, leaving my job without another one lined up and going to Spain to walk a pilgrimage feels like I’m about to run down a giant sand dune: a steep descent into the beautiful unknown. It’s nerve-racking when taking the first few steps, but totally worth it in the end.

It was so amazing. I mean, how often do we find places in this world which visually represent where we are in life? It was a first for me, and I treasured every second we stood on top of that dune, breathing in the sweet dune grass, and preparing ourselves for the run down.

Here is the view from the top:

View from the Top (Perched Sand Dunes, South Manitou Island, MI)

It’s hard to tell from the photo just how steep it is. (I had hoped to post a video of my friend running down, but I’m having technical difficulties at this time.) In some ways though, I think that adds to the “coolness” of the visual image though. You can’t tell from the photo what you’re about to run down. Kind of like my life. Who knows how “steep” the “descent” of the next few months (or years) will be. It’s up to me to take the leap of faith and find out.

Waiting for My Real Life to Begin

There is a beautiful song titled “Waiting for My Real Life to Begin” by Colin Hay that used to describe my approach to life. A line from the chorus goes, “Don’t you understand? I already have a plan. I’m waiting for my real life to begin.”

That used to be my life: I had a plan, and it was to wait for my real life to begin.

Thankfully, a lot has changed since I heard that song a few years ago. Now my plan isn’t to wait for life to begin, but to simply live it here and now, as is. (A radical concept, I know.)

What changed my outlook on life? Three things: impending vision loss from the eye disease Retinitis Pigmentosa, a growing relationship with God, and the slow realization that life is for living and doing and not sitting and waiting.

After years of waiting, it is time for action. I am leaving my job, community, and home to venture out into the great unknown. I’m kicking things off with a camping trip to Sleeping Bear Dunes National Park, then it’s on to D.C. and Pennsylvania in August for some time with family and friends. After that, it’s my pièce de résistance–a 500-mile pilgrimage across Spain called el Camino de Santiago.

The purpose of this blog is to 1) keep in touch with family and friends as I travel, 2) educate people about the eye disease Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP), and 3) combine those two and help people understand what life is like as I walk through life and across Spain with “low vision.”

Ready or not, my real life has already begun. And I welcome you to join me on my journey.