Adding Pins
Until I started coming to Las Vegas a couple months back, I'd only ever been there twice in forty-eight years. One of those times was for a college tennis tournament (Only memories? Getting booted out of the Circus Circus casino for being underage, the seniors buying our lesbian coach and her girlfriend blow jobs - the shot - and snow in February). The other was when I was maybe ten and I got to skip school and drive over with my dad (Only memory? Getting to ride in my dad's work van). I've now been so many times that the cattle call Zone 3 loading process at Frontier Airlines ceases to bother or amaze me. No, I don't have a gambling addiction, nor am I dating a stripper. I still have to explain that before each and every trip when someone invariably exclaims, "Wow! Don't get into too much trouble!". Whoa there. I go for family and hang out exclusively on the residential side of town (Yes, there is one). If pressed, I might play a couple hands of video poker. Might. I'm there for quick mid-week weekends - fly in, stay a day, fly back - not for sightseeing. The trips are short and more arduous that you might imagine, but well worth the time, cost, and effort.
Since October 2017, I've traveled so much (more than normal) that when I say I have a plane to catch people actually ask where I'm going now (Put a slightly incredulous but also slightly bored emphasis on the "now" and you've got the gist). In truth, I've only been to Minnesota, Las Vegas x a bunch, and Stockholm. With the exception of Stockholm (where I volunteered at a pro tennis tournament for a week), my recent travels have all been family related - my mom and sister are in Minnesota and my dad and other sister are in Vegas. Next month, though, I head once again to Scandinavia. I'll be there two weeks, but I promise it won't be long enough.
Here's the thing - I really think I could travel full-time. My first trip to Europe last spring lit a (not exactly unexpected) fire within me. I came home counting the days until I could leave again. Within a month, I had a flight and hotel in Stockholm booked; a month after that I had planned and made reservations for this spring; and I'm already plotting and researching options for next fall (Hello, Amsterdam and maybe Reykjavik) and next March for my fiftieth birthday (Croatia leads the early voting, but there's a half marathon in Warsaw that seems enticing). Doubt me? Just look at the map of Europe that hangs in the hallway outside my bedroom. The pins? Yep, those are the places I've been so far. All the blue circles (some of which overlap)? Those are all the places I want to go - all the places I want to run (and/or maybe hit a few tennis balls).
I have a vision of my life. And, yeah, even though I'm on the express train to fifty and probably should be planning and saving for retirement (My mom worries), I see so much ahead. Before it's all said and done, the pins on my map will outnumber the blue circles. I will have travelled and run and written about all of it. If all goes perfectly, I will also be bilingual (at a minimum) and carry dual citizenship.
I'm not sure how it's all going to come together. One day at a time, one trip at a time. I read recently that it's better to focus on today rather than on some date in the future. I guess the theory is that if I make a bunch of todays happen the right way, I'll end up where I want to be five years from now. For example, in high school, I focused on my grades and tennis game for four years which got me into a good college with a decent tennis program. Now, I have to focus on writing, publishing, and running (coming out of my introvert shell on occasion probably wouldn't hurt) so that one day I can live, write, travel, and run all over the world.
But first, I probably need another part time job. Travel ain't cheap and this writing and running thing, while fun, doesn't pay nearly enough. Yet.
Interested in sponsoring a middle-aged writing runner (or running writer) as she attempts to circumnavigate the globe? Email stacyharris@hotmail.com. Serious inquiries only.
Since October 2017, I've traveled so much (more than normal) that when I say I have a plane to catch people actually ask where I'm going now (Put a slightly incredulous but also slightly bored emphasis on the "now" and you've got the gist). In truth, I've only been to Minnesota, Las Vegas x a bunch, and Stockholm. With the exception of Stockholm (where I volunteered at a pro tennis tournament for a week), my recent travels have all been family related - my mom and sister are in Minnesota and my dad and other sister are in Vegas. Next month, though, I head once again to Scandinavia. I'll be there two weeks, but I promise it won't be long enough.
Here's the thing - I really think I could travel full-time. My first trip to Europe last spring lit a (not exactly unexpected) fire within me. I came home counting the days until I could leave again. Within a month, I had a flight and hotel in Stockholm booked; a month after that I had planned and made reservations for this spring; and I'm already plotting and researching options for next fall (Hello, Amsterdam and maybe Reykjavik) and next March for my fiftieth birthday (Croatia leads the early voting, but there's a half marathon in Warsaw that seems enticing). Doubt me? Just look at the map of Europe that hangs in the hallway outside my bedroom. The pins? Yep, those are the places I've been so far. All the blue circles (some of which overlap)? Those are all the places I want to go - all the places I want to run (and/or maybe hit a few tennis balls).
I have a vision of my life. And, yeah, even though I'm on the express train to fifty and probably should be planning and saving for retirement (My mom worries), I see so much ahead. Before it's all said and done, the pins on my map will outnumber the blue circles. I will have travelled and run and written about all of it. If all goes perfectly, I will also be bilingual (at a minimum) and carry dual citizenship.
I'm not sure how it's all going to come together. One day at a time, one trip at a time. I read recently that it's better to focus on today rather than on some date in the future. I guess the theory is that if I make a bunch of todays happen the right way, I'll end up where I want to be five years from now. For example, in high school, I focused on my grades and tennis game for four years which got me into a good college with a decent tennis program. Now, I have to focus on writing, publishing, and running (coming out of my introvert shell on occasion probably wouldn't hurt) so that one day I can live, write, travel, and run all over the world.
But first, I probably need another part time job. Travel ain't cheap and this writing and running thing, while fun, doesn't pay nearly enough. Yet.
Interested in sponsoring a middle-aged writing runner (or running writer) as she attempts to circumnavigate the globe? Email stacyharris@hotmail.com. Serious inquiries only.
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