2018 On the Road Again 2018 #1

The trips that I made 15+ years ago were an adventure. I, certainly on the first ones, had no idea as to what to expect. When I was working, for most of my trips ,I spent more time trying to get to Duncan and then back again than I did on Vancouver Island. My pack was impossibly heavy - it towered over my head, I walked for far too many miles looking for the perfect spot to stand and various parts of my body hurt for most of the trip. But they were fairy impressive trips - thousands of kilometers in a few weeks. I ended most of my trips with the comments "not to shabby for an old man".

Things have changed - in part because I am older and I no longer feel the need to show how tough I am but also because I know where I am going and usually it is only just one way. I have reduced the size of my pack significantly, I walk far less than I use to and while I am not in better shape than I use to be, because my annual trips are over almost before they begin - there is not sufficient time for me to damage my body. Whatever sense of adventure that may exist, is greatly reduced.

This is all a somewhat convoluted way of saying that at least technically I am on my summer trip but it does not feel like it. I flew to Sudbury. Other than my pack arriving 12 hours after I did, the trip was uneventful. I will hang around here for a week, catch a train to Winnipeg and then hitchhike west from there. Not very exciting. I will have a good time hanging out with my daughter and hopefully on the way back - I will meet a few interesting people. However, compared to some of my earlier trips , there is less opportunity for adventure. Not that I want anything really weird to happen - but just a small adventure would be nice.

There is, of course, some satisfaction in being 69 and even considering taking a 3-4 day hitchhiking trip. It is a great country populated by interesting and generous people. Perhaps the last 15-16 years of cross-country travel have left me just a little bit jaded, too comfortable in my travels across the country to get really excited. But as I typed those words, I realized that that was not true..... I am looking forward to being on the road again., even if it is only a short trip.