Adventure Awaits?

I sent my husband a funny pic I saw on Facebook the other day. It was of an elderly couple fast asleep in a gondola in Venice, Italy; the gondolier looking on with a sheepish grin. The caption cautioned:"Why you shouldn't wait until retirement to start traveling."

I couldn't help laughing out loud at the comical scene, thinking to myself, "Yeah, that would probably be Tom and me!" The two of us have actually talked a lot about this subject... not about Italy per se, but about just getting out there and experiencing adventures while the doing can still be done.

In fact, last week we got so enamored with the idea and so pumped up about it that we almost bought a vintage pop up camper from one of Tom's co-workers. We were even out in the backyard putting a tape to how far we could push a garage addition toward the setback. As we stood there surveying our options, reality began to sink in and we started coming to our senses.

For starters, we don't currently own a vehicle that could tow that size of trailer. Two: we have an incredibly narrow driveway that curves precariously around where our bedroom juts out, requiring us to store a trailer off-site. That brings me back to problem number one, no way to get a trailer to an off-site storage facility or retrieve it without first purchasing another, very specific, type of vehicle.

Bummer. It was definitely a "cart before the horse" kind of scenario.

In the meantime, it got me thinking about that phrase, "Adventure awaits." Sooo, I got on my chromebook and started researching quotes about that very topic. Apparently there are LOTS of sayings concerning the subject, as wll as admonitions of all kinds to "Get up, Get out, and Go!"

As it happens, I came across multiple sites like the following: 50 Epic Adventure Quotes (To Kick You off Your Couch), and 73 Adventure Quotes to Fuel Your Wanderlust. I started feeling a little defeated and deflated too. According to the advice I garnered from these and other sources, adventure is going to elude me unless I can find the time, the money, the energy, or the perfect camper/tower combo to make my wanderlust dreams come true.

Back to square one. I began looking at adventure through a different lens.

Adventure awaits?

Why?

Why does it have to wait on things like timing, or finances, or vehicles. Why can't adventure be right here, right now, right in front of me?

I came to the conclusion that it most certainly can be in the present, wherever the present finds me. Life itself is a grand adventure, isn't it? To be alive, to be fully present in the moments of our days can glean plenty of precious snippets to satisfy our adventure-seeking souls.

Adventure need not wait! It can be ours with every stolen kiss, every baby snuggle. It can be found in every starry night or pink-ribboned morning. We can have it for free dancing to the radio in the livingroom with our sweetheart or by reading a story to wide-eyed grandchildren, sitting breathless, waiting for the next twist to be revealed.

It takes precious few resources to revel at rain lilies springing up after a summer storm or to watch the ballet of sheets on the line moving artfully with the breeze. That first cup of coffee while the world is just waking. The sip of wine, toasting good conversation into the late evening hours. Song birds at the feeder, roses fading into sepia tones... this is the stuff of adventure also. It has less to do with leaving to find it and more to do with simply looking around to notice it.

I still hope some day to "Get up, Get out, and Go!" There are so many places I'd love to see, so many things I'd like to do, but in the meantime my adventure-seeking soul will not languish. The good Lord has blessed me with diamonds in the heavens and pearls at my feet.

I need only open my eyes to the wonder around me to have my desire for "wander" fulfilled.

"A man travels the world over in search of what he needs and returns home to find it." - George Moore

p.s. To those of you who have followed along on this little blog with me these past almost three years, I'd like to thank you for taking an interest in these humble musings of mine. I hope some of you may have connected with the content. For those of you who leave comments, please know I read them and very much appreciate them. Today's post is the 100th! How time flies! A special thank you goes to my sweet daughter-in-law, Laura Pulliam, for giving me the push I needed to get writing and for designing and setting up this blog for me. It was one of the best presents ever!