I want to rock your gypsy soul
Just like way back in the days of old
Then magnificently we will float into the mystic

~ Van Morrison

These lyrics are from "Into the Mystic", and you should download this song if you don't own it.  I just found it in my iTunes library, and it's now high on my playlist.  I will be sure I have a copy of this song with me on the road, along with all my other favorite highway songs... I can't even begin with where my list starts, & it never ends!

So, I'm flying out for a long weekend to celebrate a friend's birthday the 1st week of March, and a little over a month later, I hit the road for about a month.  I'll be driving to & from L.A., & I can't tell you how excited I am, knowing I'll be out there again!!!  I very much look forward to seeing friends I have made along my way 2 years ago or so, and making new friends as well.  I don't think you can really appreciate being out there until you've actually done it yourself... sometimes not knowing where you'll end up that night, what town, or where you'll sleep.

It's so liberating to drive across this beautiful country we live in.  And it's no wonder so many people, when they retire, they sell their homes, buy trailers, and live on the road, migrating from one state to another, experiencing all there is to experience in this vast, beautiful country of ours.  Too bad most us of wait until we're older, because things "get in the way", or they just "can't."  It's much like when couples say, "Oh, we just can't have a kid right now; we can't afford it, etc, etc."  Sooner or later, they find out that if they keep having an attitude like that, they'll never have kids.  And that's when they finally decide to have a kid.  It's kind of like that.

Do yourself a favor this year.  Plan a long roadtrip this summer.  Even if it's just for a few weeks.  I know, you have a job and you can't take all the time off, but see what you can do about using your sick days, see what you can do about getting coverage while you're gone.  Maybe you just got laid off... you should take that trip right now!!!  Get away from the snow if you live up north - there's no better time than the present!

My favorite place in the whole world (of all the place I've been, anyway) is the Grand Canyon.  If you have not seen this place, you must go.  Plus, the drive through the mountains is magnificent...

OK, ok, so you feel you won't be able to fit in a long roadtrip this year.  How about a long weekend trip?  Just DRIVE somewhere - half the fun of a roadtrip is the drive!!!  Seeing what there is to see, stopping at random and finding a little dive restaurant, and finding out that their specialty just happens to be the most killer bleu cheese burger you've ever tasted in your life!!!  Stop and smell the roses.  Visit those caves or that museum that was advertised along the way... stop and "See Guthrie!" when the sign says you should!  You'll be surprised just how much fun you have!

Because, it's about the journey.  It's not about the destination.  I can't be credited for that saying, but it's very true.  You have to enjoy yourself along the way, or if and when you do get to your destination, you'll look back and say, "Was it worth it?" Take time for yourself in your journey through life, and your life will become the most magnificent journey you could ever imagine.