On The Banana Pancake Trail

The last week has been one of the hardest weeks of our life. We walked away from our jobs on Wednesday, moved out of our home on Thursday, and said good-bye to Tim’s family and our dog, Noosa, on Friday and drove down to PA. On the ride down it was surreal to realize we were really leaving so many people, places, and memories behind. In the planning process of a trip like this, it’s easy to spend time preparing for what life on the road will be like. But preparing yourself for what you are saying goodbye to is impossible to prepare for, and it hit me like a ton of bricks.

So I have spent the last few days combating major stomach aches, supporting my ankle (still sprained!), and giving myself minor heart attacks every time we realized we couldn’t find something that at that moment seemed vitally important for the trip. As you know from the packing post, we already packed our bag a week ago so it should be impossible for that to happen, but it still did.

So here I am today, taking deep, deep breaths and getting ready to board the flight. The flight that was always supposed to be in the distant future and is suddenly today. We fly out of Philly to LA and then on to a 10 hour flight to Raratonga that only leaves once a week – so we better be on that flight. (Hey United Airlines – I’m talking to you. You better get us to LA on time!)

I can’t really describe the feeling on a day like today. It’s a sense of peace and uncertainty all at the same time. This is the longest travel day of the entire trip (on paper. In reality we will probably have some 3 hour bus rides that turn into full day fiascos). Getting to the Cook Islands, an island where you can’t help but do nothing, because it’s so small, will be just the start we need to our trip.

It’s not so much that we’re afraid of change or so in love with the old ways, but it’s that place in between that we fear . . . . It’s like being between trapezes. It’s Linus when his blanket is in the dryer. There’s nothing to hold on to.
-Marilyn Ferguson

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