Sometime life gives you lemons.  2014 was definitely a lemon for me.  I witnessed the self-destruction of my best friend and the end of our marriage.  Along the way, I found out what  incredible people my friends and family are.  (Extra thanks to the folks who have helped me move at some point in the last 12 months!)

I also came to appreciate how short life can be.
So I've sold the house, thrown everything into storage and said thank you to my very supportive bosses who agreed to let me take the next 6 months to pursue  whatever it is that I need right now.  That means traveling!  There will be stops in Texas, Colorado, Montana, Chicago, Oklahoma, France, Norway, Croatia, Germany . . . and then who knows?  Rambling across the world will be part of the journey and part of the fun.

Fair warning:
To my Type-A friends who are gainfully employed . . . do not expect this trip to be the luxurious, ultra-planned vacation you are used to taking with your only 2 weeks off each year.  There will be hostels and couches and wearing of the same 7 shirts for months.  For the backpackers . . . this will not be the shoe-string budget, round-the-world, willing to sit in airports for days to save $50 extended break from reality.  Expect nice dinners and hired guides along the way.

What this trip will be is a time when I am not beholden to anybody but myself.  It is a chance to have fun and see some beautiful parts of Earth, try out new foods and experience foreign cultures, sometimes with some dear friends and sometimes with new ones.  It's a time to assess what is important to me.  It is an opportunity to recover.

In short, it will be a once in a lifetime trip.
2015 is looking pretty sweet right now!