I tend to hold personal things close and share only with a few close friends or family. The following experience is not intended to elicit emotional responses, nor support, but shared because it explains the original, subconscious reason why I’m wandering around in Tamasté, and how that’s now changed. And without sharing, the larger point would not be as relevant or crystal clear.

Over the past few weeks I’ve been in my former home town of Findlay, Ohio, for various healthcare appointments and get my checkmarks so I can head off down the road for another year. During one of these, an office test showed a potential problem, and a subsequent hospital-based test confirmed it, leading to a heart procedure to fix it. That turned out to be a proactive avoidance of something that could have been bad possibly sooner than later.

Immediately after the test, however, was an event that led to my second chance and an “I get it” moment around phrases such as live each day, tomorrow is not promised, etc.

Truth is, in some ways, we are the biggest barrier to our health, well-being, and a long life lived without too much strife. We do things that defy common sense, accelerate body issues not so much out of ignorance, but from ego, a sense of entitlement and from the naïveté that “it won’t happen to me.” All of these in the face of evidence that says otherwise coupled with our profound lack of self will. Yes, sometimes genetics plays a part, but I suspect it’s mostly a lifelong act of obstinance to doing what’s right to keep our amazing bodies functioning as designed.

My stated reason for traveling in Tamasté upon retiring was I wanted to see places long on my list, visit old friends, spend more time in nature, and dedicate some real bulk time to writing. Truth is it took some deep, reflective thought and journaling since this second chance event to truly understand. I have been scrambling to see and do things that I didn’t have time for when I did have a job, bills to pay, and things to buy. And, as it turns out, this rush to do is fueled by a hidden fear that mortality’s time clock has only so many tick-tocks left. It’s ludicrous, in a sense, to think I could possibly pack decades and decades of missed experiences into such a short time, yet I that apparently was my intent while I outwardly thought I had lots of time left.

Most of us probably have some type of fear about passing on yet intellectual know we only live in these bodies so long. But knowing the logic of that and brushing up against it are decidedly different emotional moments. Oddly enough, at the time, I was not fearful but attentive on the experience that was unfolding before me. Only later after reflection and more understanding did I grasp the potential closeness of that event.

I’ve always thought, probably like most of us, that those pithy quotes and statements have truth, but there’s lots of time left so no worries. Like many such sentiments, they tend to touch and influence only those who’ve already brushed with consequences of not following such sage advice, and tend to not inspire change for those who need to change the most.

So where and what now? I continue on a path of reexamining what I’m doing and what matters, but so far I’ll continue wandering and exploring in Tamasté for the near future. One change is I have no plans beyond the short term nor feel in a hurry to see and explore places and things on that huge list. Instead, it’s a gratitude each day to have the opportunity to be free and nomadic for now so I can explore, enjoy, and experience whatever comes my way each day. Enjoying what’s in front of me, right now, is suddenly far more important.

Last Sunday I left New Mexico and its wondrous red, orange, and yellow mesas and took a leisurely three-day drive to Forest City, Iowa.

Why Iowa? That’s where I adopted Tamasté last October, and I was running out of miles on the warranty. Needing to have a lot of little things (and one big thing) fixed before I hit the 15,000-mile end of coach warranty milestone, the good folks at Lichtsinn RV in Forest City gave Tamasté a health check up and fixed everything on my list.

Ironically, my next destination is my old hometown of Findlay, OH, where it will be my turn for health fix-ups via a slew of annual checkups and tests with doctors, dentist, optometrist, masseuse, and ayurvedic coach! I think Tamasté had less hands-on attention than I will over the next two weeks. But then, he’s less than one year old, while I’m…ahem…much older.

I did the direct drive from Forest City to Findlay last year in two days, and in a word, boring. Got there quicker, but what’s the fun in that. So as the map below attests, I decide to take three days and drive north into country I haven’t seen, and over the beautiful Upper Pennisula (UP) and the Mackinac Bridge.

While this was not so much a stop-and-explore travel, as it was an enjoy-the-beauty-while-driving trip, there was plenty of lush green nature to look at. Surprise of the trip was northern Wisconsin, which I had no idea was so densely forested and gorgeous, rolling hill country. Between the idyllic farms and occasional log home, it was a treat made all the better by being the only vehicle on most of these back roads I traveled. I did think this would be an awesome, nature-infused place to live…until I realized how far north of Green Bay this area is and you know what winters are like there. I marvel at people who can live in such harsh climates.

Monday I begin my long list of appts with healthcare places, visits with old friends, and exploring my Findlay haunts once more. Taking three leisurely days looping to the north and across the UP on route 2 then down through Michigan, was much more relaxing than the two-day sprint across the midwest. But as the signs like the one at the right I keep seeing up in Wisconsin and across the UP reminded me…don’t try this in January.

After close to a two-month break away from living in Tamasté, I’m back on the road again.

After spending this week back in New Mexico, I’ll head to Forest City, Iowa, for some Tamasté warranty work. After that, I’ll head to Findlay for 10 days, followed by 10 days in Ann Arbor. Just as Tamasté needed his “doctor” time in Iowa, so must Tamasté’s driver get some annual poking and prodding split between numerous Findlay healthcare providers.

After Ann Arbor, I’ll head to New England and the Northeast for at least three months of extensive exploring, including, hopefully, another time-away from Tamasté via train to play in New York City. Or maybe Boston. Or both.

Tomorrow I fly back to the mainland to Denver, and end my 25-day Hawaiian vacation and adventure. It’s been a great trip and visit with my two sons who live in Honolulu. And while I didn’t catch any of the other islands on this trip, we made good use of the days to explore Oahu’s nature. Of course, there was also a lot of just hanging out, eating great food, taking in a few movies, and catching up on life.

My memories of this visit include becoming a fan of boba tea drinks, sushi (more than before), and an awesome downtown Whole Foods that gave me a great place to get some writing down while indulging in some fabulous people watching. Add to the list the incredible colors in the waters around the island, and the vegetation and nature on parts of the island away from Honolulu, and it was a successful trip. Much of the nature here is difficult to photograph, but amazing to see on drives through and around the mountains of Oahu.

If you’re just now stumbling onto my Hawaii-related posts, you can revisit them here, here, here, here, and here for commentary and island photos.

For now, I’ll take my 25 days of consistent warm climate and my tan and head back to the mainland. Looking forward to resuming nomadic living in Tamasté, provided I can wake him from a 25-day slumber for more journeys ahead.

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Since I leave Hawaii a week from tomorrow, I decided to start exploring Oahu’s nature by zones, taking roughly a day in each zone rather than the sporadic visits so far. We started yesterday by driving the west coast highway north from Kahe Point Beach Park until we ran out of paved road in the Ka’ena Point State Park.

As stunningly blue the water is with staggering shades from turquoise to deep blue, the hills, mountains, and vegetation opposite the shore were equally beautiful in their way. As much as I’m enjoying hanging out at Whole Foods in downtown Honolulu, spending the time to drive out of congested areas and into island nature is a fantastic way to see the true Hawaii.

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Took my first Oahu island hike yesterday with my younger son. As with most (just about all) hiking trails here, you have to do a lot of vertical climbing to get to the views. And as expected, the views are spectacular but you have to earn them through a lot of cardio over the 500′ elevation rise on the trail!

We hiked up the Makapu‘u Point Lighthouse Trail but didn’t make it all the way to the lighthouse. Sadly, the lighthouse is gone now and only foundations remain. And while we didn’t see any whales (a common sighting along this trail per comments I read) we did watch a mongoose go in and out of the grass along the trail’s edge. The trail offers no shade and the day was hot so we rested at one of the higher lookouts then turned back to go down.

This trail is touted as one of the easiest hikes on the island, yet was challenging for me. We’ll see how I fare on the other trails later on and hopefully share more island paradise views.