Wonderful post. I love your line up there, papering over the cracks....

The greatest passion of our life, must be life itself....Everything is in service of that - and not just the passion of being alive, but the passion of living for others. I have lived my life fully in the deep knowledge that one day I will pass from this world, and that every moment is precocious beyond measure. So I pursued music, and film, and art - and worked almost exclusively for myself - and my work was my passion...I refused to not LOVE what I was doing, even if the pay was less.....and I continue.

I have no children. I have an 89 year old mother with serious dementia - who I can still make laugh to tears....and see joy on her face when I visit (everyday).

And yes - a girlfriend - who is coming around to the new normal - and its looking like she is going to support me - we are still talking....

I'm not going travelling. I have no intension of returning to this place. I am combining my passions into one thing - an exploration of getting old, seeing the world, music, letting go, living every single second in, as a friend put it - LIFE SQUARED. This whole thing is a fully natural extension of what I've been doing for my whole life....And, again - I'm not on a trip - coming back and going out again.....This is one way. A lifestyle. And a way of being.

Regrets: none. Mistakes many. It has taken YEARS for me to accept who I am, and embrace the good and the bad - to work on myself every moment - but to never be embarrassed about the person I am - even when I'm an idiot...cause I take myself lightly - but the journey seriously.

Grant and Suzan - you have built something really special in this website/forum. Honest, thinking like minded souls - these few days have been difficult - but what an opportunity to learn - and the words and discussion on this have been tremendous.

I bow to all of you - Namaste

To sum this thread up
We all (or most of us ) travel for a different reason ...................: