Another's passion leads to inspiration

As many of you know, one of my big passions is to travel. However, it would seem that there is always something to get in the way of that big road trip that I have been planning all of my life. This has delayed my ability to find a permanent home, as I find myself as content to be on the road as I would be to stay at my home, or my home base, as I sometimes call it. At the same time, I am in the process of telling this story via this web site, this story of the desire to travel, the places that have been home to me and the places that have been home to others, which is evolving in to the story of just what home means, particularly to someone like me whose home is on the road so much of the time.

Then yesterday I read an article on the CNN web site that brings in another perspective. This article suggests the idea of finding your dream town first, and then finding a job. I have perhaps found my dream town, and I will write about that another time. Then again, perhaps I have not, because right now I write this during a day off from working in Seattle, although I currently live in Madison. Both might be considered dream towns, for example, there is the beauty of the Pacific Northwest, there is so much to do in Seattle and Madison, and there are friendly neighbors on both places. And I am sure that each one reading this has their own definition of a dream town that is not Seattle or Madison. So I say with much hesitation that Madison is my dream town or that Seattle is my dream town. Due to my passion for travel, it has been difficult to settle down in either one, and who knows, some day I may find another dream town.

But one still needs to find meaningful work to support their travels. Given my passion for travel, perhaps my dream town might happen to be the particular town I am visiting for that day. So I have often thought that perhaps I could combine my passion for travel with my employment. In a way, I am doing that today, but recently I had a near opportunity to truly do that when I responded to an ad at seattle.craigslist.com looking for a "Caregiver/RV Driver Needed for 4 Months". Since I am an experienced caregiver, this opportunity seemed to fit like a glove.

Little did I know what I would be getting myself in to if I had been able to take advantage of this opportunity. I learned that Carlo Magno, an individual with multiple sclerosis (MS), is now on a journey from Anacortes, WA, to New York City. He is traveling the highways in an electric wheelchair. Among other things, he hopes to meet with Katie Couric at his destination. If I had been hired, I would have been driving the RV that he is staying in at night and also assisting with his personal and administrative needs. It is mind boggling and inspirational to think that a few years ago, Carlo was bedridden and downtrodden, even contemplating euthanasia. Then over time he came up with a plan to travel across the country and raise money for MS and do a whole lot more. He is now realizing his dream, even with his disability. To learn more, keep track of his progress and learn about ways that you, too, can help, please go to his web site at http://thespiritofhope.org.

Unfortunately for me, I did not get the job, but I continue to look for ways to combine my passions and my employment. As I reflect on what Carlo has done, and what I myself have done, I realize that in a way, I have overcome much to realize my own travel and road trip dreams. I suppose I have not gone on that long road trip that is the life dream of many. But I have been traveling, I have been working and I am able to support myself, although combining all of this has not been easy. I am also realizing my dream of telling my travel stories via words and pictures. Troubles may slow us down at times, but my own trip delays and other troubles seem minor when compared to what Carlo has had to endure to prepare for his trip and find himself on the way to New York City. As for me, I have so much more to tell about my journeys, so much so, that these stories haven't yet made it to this web site. But this is a work in progress, so stay tuned.