Do What You Can …
Since my husband recently retired,
the first question every asks us is, “Where are you going to go?”
“Congratulations!” people say. “You’ll love the traveling!”
International travel has not only been our dream for the past years, it has been a lifelong passion. We’ve lived and worked on four continents and dreamed of adding many more places to our travelogue. Antarctica. Australia. Maybe even the Galapagos! Wouldn’t that be something! We planned on seeing a lot more of our marvelous planet!
But now when people ask (and they always do) I don’t know what to say. Traveling to distant places is out of my ability. Four or five hours driving in the car is my limit. It’s all my brain can handle. Max.
I’ve agonized over how to answer people, trying out different options.
A simple, “We’re not traveling” brings a host of questions. “Well, why forever not?”
If I answer that I can’t travel, there are more questions. “Why not?”
If I mentioned that I’m recovering from brain injury, the usual response is a load of advice.
Dramamine on the plane stops dizziness. Take a sleeping pill. I used to ... Have you tried ... Why don’t you ...
Friends don’t want to accept the fact that travel is not in the cards for me right now. It deflates them. I become an object of pity or am looked at skeptically and not quite believed.
Do What You Can. With what you have.
Where you are.
A few months ago, listening to a podcast, these words stuck out.
Do what you can. With What you have. Where you are.
They were exactly the words I needed to hear. And we began to dream about taking a trip that I could do! Looking at the positives and not the negatives. Looking at the I Can instead of the I Can’t.
We drew a circle on the map.
We can travel this far.
Looking at all the places within the circle, we pointed our fingers at Duluth, Minnesota (It didn’t hurt that we have family living there). And we decided to go. I knew Duluth was beautiful, but it exceeded all our expectations! Red maples and gorgeous yellow birch around every bend.
I spent the mornings writing and working on my next book, while my husband hiked or biked or ran. He came home, we lunched, I napped.
In the afternoons, we hiked through some of the most spectacular places! We also, maybe, locked ourselves out of our Airbnb with both our phones inside, but that is another story. I’ll just say it ended fine, and leave it go at that.
Besides the wonderful vacation, an amazing “update” happened.
On our eight day in Duluth, we decided to go on a late afternoon hike. There was a trail nearby that was fairly flat and wide, but went through some beautiful woodlands. 2.4 miles. Do-able. We walked leisurely, and I used my two trekking poles since the ground was uneven and there were tree roots and muddy spots. Not really rocky, but not an easy path either.
Mostly, when I walk I have to watch the ground almost all the time. Otherwise I’m tripping or off balance. I’ve gotten use to hiking without seeing much of what I’m hiking through. Except the ground. Or the occasional vista, when we stop.
About a mile and a half into our hike, something in my brain-eye connection clicked.
I could look ahead at the ground, and my brain memorized it or something. My brain sent all the right messages to my feet. My feet understood! I could take eight or ten steps without looking down. My feet knew where to place themselves. What to avoid. When the ground was going to go up or down.
I mean, it’s crazy how much work our brains do that we completely take for granted and don’t even notice!!
I walked steady and sure, like I used to. Well, almost. But all of a sudden, I could walk faster and with more confidence. I could look around. Just glance down. A glance was enough. Are you kidding me?
About that time, the sun started to set and we realized that we still had a mile to hike, no flashlight, and no water. Yup. Well-seasoned hikers. Since my brain was working like a charm, I could speed up and walk at a pretty good clip. I kept thinking that my brain would revert. It didn’t. It kept up with its newfound connections and we made it back to our car just before dark.
A brand new Indonesian restaurant just opened a week earlier.
Bali Asian Cuisine
We had to go! I mean, we’d lived in Indonesia for three years and loved the food!
We shared lumpia (egg rolls) Sate Ayam; (skewered chicken with peanut sauce); Rendang (slow cooked beef in coconut milk and spices); and had a dessert of fried bananas with ice cream on top. It was heavenly. I felt like we’d been in Indonesia once more. What a treat!!
Who says you have to travel a long distance to experience the world?!
After nine lovely days, we drove back home.
When people ask me now, “Where are you going,” I smile and say, “We just returned from a ten day trip to Duluth!”
It makes them happy. And it makes me happy, too!
I came home thankful.
For podcasts and words of wisdom and people who are wiser than me that I can learn from.
Thankful for words that are helping me navigate my life, as it is, right now.
Thankful to have traveled and spent time in such a stunning location.
Thankful for another hard-earned and long-awaited improvement in my brain.
Thankful to be alive.
Do what you can. With what you have. Where you are.
May you find something today that gives you joy.
May you find things you can do, just where you are, with whatever it is that you have at hand.
Thank you for reading and for joining me on this grand adventure.
Love always,
Jill