Getting ReConnected

     It’s already been a month since our return to the steady and regular lives we lead. We aren’t feeling the physical effects anymore, or the sense of time and space warp from the trip, but we’re still moved by the epic scale of our adventure. We negotiated 14,600 kilometers or 9,000 miles; 29 days; 12 visits including 6 stays with friends in 5 Provinces and 7 States; 18 different motels rooms. It was a month of almost constant movement. Only twice did we spend two nights in the same bed. On four successive Wednesdays, we met up with friends in Calgary, Seattle, Los Angeles and Houston. Ponczka and I had the odd experience of looking backward at earlier events on the trip and feeling simultaneously that they’d just happened and that they’d happened weeks before. And, it was a dream of a lifetime.

     For how many years had I been contemplating this trip? I was so grateful to replace all the vague and shifting notions about what the trip might be, with the vivid reality of it: the sights and encounters, hugs and conversations, meals and walks, forever updating my inner scrapbook of my life. So many people and places, touching so many different parts of my life, even back to my beginnings. I’d wanted this for myself, but I wanted as much to share it with Ponczka, to give her a deeper glimpse into my has-been, even the might-have-beens.

     I love cities and I love the in-between places. One of the disappointments was to find that all the cities that I’d known before (but hadn’t visited in twenty-five years or more) have become bigger, busier and more alike. It was harder detecting that West Coast vibe – if it still exists. We were in such a flurry of movement and meetings that we didn’t give ourselves time to notice.

     The rubbing up against technology was an interesting experience, as well: the ease of taking photos and videos, then posting them that same day, to share with friends scattered around the world; using AI to handle so much of the navigation, not only guiding us to motels, but comparing rates and amenities; and of course, communicating while on the go. The last time I did a cross-country trip, none of this was possible to do in the way we did it, not even simple phoning ahead. It changes things enormously, this connectivity. The ability to pay for things, and to withdraw money effortlessly, changes the ways of travel as well. Because there was a time when one was wise to do a rough calculation of expenses in advance, then to carry that along on the trip, maybe investing in traveler’s checks to protect against theft or loss.

     I’m putting up videos and photos in an attempt to share some of it all. Impossible to ‘capture’ it. It was such a unique ride. Already, I’d like for us to do it all again, but to take more time – three or four times the time. Because, for everything we saw and did during our trip, we passed on three or four things we’d like to have seen and done. It was all more than worth it.