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

Would you be up for her joining you every few months for a week or so?

It could be an exciting way for her to see more of the world and to participate in your adventure without having to take many months off.

__________________
"For sheer delight there is nothing like altitude; it gives one the thrill of adventure
and enlarges the world in which you live," Irving Mather (1892-1966)

That's the plan - in places that are safe. And for as long as she wants....But unlike me, she requires comfort and that will mean more hotels, and that is more costly - so balance.....

Back before wife, kids, dogs, mortgage, bad health, unexpected bad luck, it was easy for me to take off and not worry. The more of these you get-and you may well get them all-it becomes harder to do long trips. If you don't have many situations it would be good to go now, because you can never be sure what's going to happen in the next second. As was said, if she doesn't want to go and doesn't want you to go, you may end up with no way to go anywhere. Don't get me wrong, I am thankful for the wife and kids, but I remember the exact day it was fix the bike or spend the money on the rug rats. They won out because they were more important.