Adventure is Out There!

wanderlust (n): a strong desire for or impulse to wander or travel and explore the world

I don’t think that it’s any secret that I have always had a restless spirit. As a child, I was forever wanting to be on the go, to see and do something new. My mother frequently said I had a “gas a#@”. Which, I know she meant it negatively, but I always took it as a good thing. I was never one to get anxious at the idea of going someplace new, and I would lay in my little bed, in my little pink bedroom and dream of all the places I would one day go. I wanted to see the world! From Paris to Rome. From Athens to Bali. From Majorca to Auckland. I wanted to see and do it all.

Unfortunately, I did what the majority of girls from good ol’ MiffCo do…I got married and settled down with a typical MiffCo boy who never dreamed of going anywhere…ever!! During that marriage, my adventures were few and not very far from home. Following the decline of that relationship, I found myself free to go wherever I wanted. Free to travel to new places. Free to try new things. Free to find myself in this great big world! And I did…to an extent. I came so very close to a solo tour of Italy once…but the real world called, and I had other obligations that prevented me from being able to go. But boy, did I still dream! I would venture out on small road trips…on wine tours or to the beach…making memories with my kiddo and my friends. I would dream of moving away (far, far away) and starting over. I would dream of a simple life in the middle of nowhere. I would dream of an exciting life in a big city. Always restless. Never feeling settled. Until the day I met…him.

About three and a half years ago, I met “him”. I met the man who I would fall head over heels in love with. The man who shared my dreams, my passions, my desire to travel. And let me tell you…boy have we traveled! In the past three years, The Hubs has taken me on so many adventures! We honeymooned at The Finger Lakes in New York. We spent our first New Year’s Eve in the Big Apple, dining at Brasserie Les Halles. (When we first started dating, we bonded over our mutual love of the tragically late Tony Bourdain! It’s a dinner memory I will always cherish…even if we didn’t meet Tony!) We road tripped to South Carolina, driving home through the snow in Tennessee. We’ve hiked the Falls Trail at Ricketts Glen. We’ve dipped our toes in the muddy Mississippi! We ventured across the windy plains of Oklahoma! Drove along the coast in Galveston, and at some points drove in the Gulf as the waves crashed over our car! We’ve eaten lobster fresh from the Atlantic in Boston. We’ve lived in three states! We both love to see new places and try new things, and he is always coming up with fun places for us to go.

The fact that he loves to travel isn’t even the best part! The best part…is that he has taught me that we don’t have to travel across the country or around the world to have an adventure. Our LIFE is the adventure!! Our love, our family, everything we do is an exciting adventure! And for the first time in my life, I feel settled. I no longer feel restless. Sure, I dream of fun and exciting things for us to do and maybe someday we will do some of them! And while, I may never take in the view from the summit of Mount Everest (let’s be honest, I’d die before I made it to the top); the view my chair on the beach of Lake Michigan, watching the sun set, sipping wine and seeing my husband smile…has a way of taking my breath away!