Patience and Balance

By day four of any adventure you should expect some adversity. Fortunately for me, nothing I can’t overcome. However a dog fight, traffic and failing hard drives have made this trip interesting. But it’s the dinosaurs, rare gems and good friends that keep me going. 

“The key to a happy life is to accept that you’re never in control.” - Simon Masrani (Jurassic World)

We can control how we think and act but we can never control our circumstances. I’ve known this but really accepting this is what is going to carry me through the next several months on the road.
And after a full week I’ve realized that I definitely underestimated how much energy is required for an excursion like this. Today I was wondering how on earth I could maintain this and then realized that the only way to do that is with balance. So aside from seeing the Alamo in San Antonio today, I will be relaxing at my campsite with a book and recharging for the next leg of this journey.

Go With All Your Heart

Hofstadter's Law: It always takes longer than you expect, even when you take into account Hofstadter's Law.

This law typically refers to complex tasks but I find it applies to everything in life that is not habitual practice. Only after completing a task dozens of times can you accurately estimate the time of a task.

This is especially relevant to me right now because I assumed two months would be more than enough time to prepare for this road trip... and in all reality it would've been had I been better prepared and not so distracted.

In regards to preparation, I should've made a list of literally everything that needed to be accomplished. With an indefinite time period I'm able to keep coming up with new things to do prior to embarking. I suppose this is why I hear people to say to start before you're ready, if it's essential, you'll figure it out, if it's not then you'll forget about it.

I'm also a master procrastinator. I've been putting off some dental work for basically two years now and of course, near the end of the two months that I allotted to prepare is when I decided to get it taken care of. A couple of missing teeth later and I'm ready to roll... almost.

Now I'm at the mercy of the DMV. The dealership has sent my title and paperwork over and all I can do is wait for my plate and registration. I can't rightfully start a cross country road trip with a temporary tag just to drive back to Alabama in order to pick up my permanent plate...

As far as distractions have been concerned, these were welcome distractions. I've been spending time with my Mom and Grandmother, trying to be as present as I can in these moments and really embrace this time I have with people that I love dearly. I suppose that's why I'm not in a hurry. They say home is where the heart is so at least for now, my heart is in Alabama. A piece of my heart is definitely still in Florida. Something tells me that over the next few months, I'm going to find my heart in other states as well.

"Where ever you go, go with all your heart."
-Confucius