Lose the baggage... make room for new memories!

 

"By taking to the road, we free ourselves of baggage, both physical and psychological. We walk back to our original condition, to our best selves."  -Robyn Davidson

A long, long time ago (over two decades ago!) we took a European trip with lots of transportation connections, planes, trains, boats, taxis etc... And we carried ALOT of baggage. When packing, we didn't realize that we would have to lug that luggage by hand up and down stairs everywhere!  By the time we reached Cherbourg France and our third floor walk-up accommodations, we had had enough! As Phyl said, it was time to lose the baggage both figuratively and literally. We packed the largest suitcase with all that could fit in it, lugged it down to the post office and mailed it back home!  

The trip went much easier after that. We weren't loaded with lifestyle paradigms of the past, freer to enjoy the present, making new memories, and leaving enough emotional room to experience ways of life that often were divergently different from our everyday lives. 

So on this current jaunt, as we made our way along Route 66 through the long and deserted Mojave Desert toward Barstow, we had time to reflect on our journey across the Midwest to California. We carry a lot less stuff of course and even as we've enjoyed the sights, we both realize that the most memorable have been the people we've encountered along the way.  

People who ranged from fellow global adventurists who had made their way to tram up to the top of the Gate Way Arch in St. Louis to the proudful smiles of parents who were taking their newly minted soldiers in freshly pressed uniforms to lunch at a buffet just outside of Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri.  Sharing shaved ice snow cones with our grandkids in Stillwater OK. The welcome guide at the The Tower Conoco in Shamrock TX who asked us to put a pin the world map (along with hundreds of others!).  The bartender at the La Posada bar who served Jer a three-fingered pour martini!  The funny crew at Delgadillo's Snow Cap in Seligman AZ - watch out for the squirting mustard bottle gag. The mules of Oatman AZ - you will not make it thru town without at least one of them stopping you on the road! Oh the places we've been going and the memories we've been making!

Our last stop on Route 66 before heading south to Encinitas for our next sit was The California Route 66 Museum in Victorville... the volunteer docents were welcoming, seasoned, and knowledgeable. When you go, make sure to have them take a picture of you in the vintage VW wagon.  

We had been discussing getting a new set of luggage - three years on the road was beginning to a toll on Phyl's precious purple suitcases - so we knew the new set had to hit all the emotional as well as functional points.  And in the museum gift shop, there they sat. A set of three Route 66 suitcases - almost glowing as much as Phyl's face when she spotted them.  And, yes they are now part and parcel on the road! New luggage that we love...check that one off!

We'll be heading back to the Illinois along the Mother Road in about a month - so y'all be hearing more tales as our next grand adventure continues unfolds... in the meantime...

"I've always been taught that life is a series of chapters, and it's all about moving forward and not carrying around baggage." - Alesha Dixon

PS: Unless that baggage is embroidered with Route 66 logos!