June 19 - Parting Is Such Sweet Sorrow

{Brock}

After months of preparation and planning, we finally made our way out the door and onto the road today. It's great to finally begin the adventure I've been anticipating so much, but not without its hardships.

I recognized last night after completing all of the running around that must precede a departure like this one that I often book myself out of time to reckon with the unpleasant nature of coming events. When I realized I was going to turn 30, I planned a music festival so that I wouldn't have to think about it. For this journey, I had many other distractions like lining up episodes for my podcast (thesprocketpodcast.com) and disassembling our living space so someone else can live in our office while we're away for the summer. Even the act of packing was ironically a distraction from the reality of leaving home for several months. Perhaps getting older has turned me into a homebody, but in contrast to years past when I've been excited about the prospect of a long trip by bicycle from parts known to those relatively mysterious, this year the drive to get away has lessened and my attachment to the friends I've made in Portland has made its way to the front of my emotions. I suppose it stands to reason that when you spend time with people you grow fond of them, but I was a little surprised by the strength of my feelings as I stood outside my house in Lents and realized that I would miss these people and wished that I had more time to bid a proper farewell to more of them. The feelings were surprising, but as Adele and I were talking in the herb garden she had meticulously sculpted under a moonlit night sky, she mentioned that it's nice to think that we will be coming back to this place and these people that we love at the end of our trip. Some people do not have this luxury and are continuously in transit from place to place, like long haul truck drivers or businessmen on airplanes, or – as much as I respect and admire the gusto it takes to travel adventurously on one's own schedule – long term world travelers by bicycle or on foot who haven't made plans to return to a place they call home. The security of a family to return to seems very empowering to me; they share our joy in a new adventure, and we share their joy when we return with new experiences and wisdom from breaking the mould of our usual routine.

This trip also gives us a few opportunities to reconnect with friends who live farther away from us, like the Califf and Winegardner families who are graciously providing us with beds, beer, and banter tonight. Some friends have ventured out with us to help ease the transition into solitude as well: Aaron rode with us out the historic highway today past waterfalls and over bridges, and Meredith rode public transportation to meet us in North Bonneville, besting me by riding the Skamania County bus before I've had the chance to do it myself, a coup de transit if I ever heard one.

Now to the last night in a proper bed for some time... sweet dreams of home and abroad await.