My love and I just went on a road trip through Nevada to Colorado and Utah. We drove on 50, the Loneliest Highway, and stayed in ma and pa motels along the way. When we got to Colorado, we hiked and explored, going from Denver to the Rockies to the Collegiate Peaks. Then, it was on to Utah’s Arches and Canyonlands. We ate greasy food from fast food drive-throughs and stopped at supermarkets to get fresh fruit and vegetables and some micro-brewed beers for the evenings. We had no music with us. It was just us and the wind and AM radio. Occasionally, we’d tune into an NPR station or a 70s rock station, but mostly it was talk radio or country music. My love sang songs and the longer he drove, the sillier he got.

It took me three days to fully decompress. For the first two days my brain was always going back to thinking about what I forgot to do at work or what I should do when getting back. Finally, after we got to the Rockies, I was back in the moment again, relaxed, connected, happy. For the next few days, I soaked in the surroundings and took in the adventure like a drug. It was peaceful yet invigorating to be in such beautiful natural settings, to hike up long trails with no one else in sight and view the expanse of mountain vistas or canyons, as far as the eye could see. No cars. No machines. No voices. No signs of civilization. Just our breath and our songs and our quiet conversations.

For me, this is when I am most “myself.” When I no longer think about whether I’m “enough.” When I no longer question my choices based on whether or not they may or may not be popular or accepted or even understood. And it occurs to me that this has always been the case for me, growing up the way I did.

For me, traveling is the adventure. Finding a destination is temporary. The movement is the thing. My ego fades. My spiritual being takes over. I don’t think so much from the outside. I just am. And in that space, all is well. All is fabulous. For me, this is DTBF. To simply be. To be at peace with myself and to feel connected to the pulse of life that is all around. I feel so vibrant and happy.

Sometimes, when I’m in the mode of the routines of daily living and working, I feel like a baseball player fielding balls. I’m on alert and at the ready for a line drive or a fly ball, a stolen base or an error. The phone is ringing incessantly and hundreds of Emails wait for a reply. Everyone wants answers and wants them now. I feel laden with expectations. The to-do list grows exponentially. It can be such a striking contrast to the peace I experience in Nature.

Ah, but Nature is right outside my front door. And as long as I can walk on an isolated trail, stand on the beach and listen to the ocean, or hear birds singing their beautiful songs, I am able to keep coming back to that place of peace and connection and vibrancy. And this is what keeps me ticking. This is what fuels me. This is what makes me feel absolutely fabulous.

DTBF!
Johanna