Here When I Can Be (posted by Tomcat)

I’ve only been able to join for about half of this 50 States Trip. Flying back and forth throughout the adventure. “Forth” being wherever Curlytop and the 3 kids happen to be that week. “Back” being home…aka work. Someone’s got to actually pay for this 50 States thing.

Prior to the beginning of the trip, I’d been to 44 of the 50 states. I’d made a goal to get to all 50 by the time I hit 40 years old. And the clock is ticking on that, so this idea of this road trip is certainly convenient.

Flying into Minneapolis a couple of weeks ago for the MN, WI, MI, IN, IL leg was excellent. Chicago was cemented as one of my favorite cities anywhere and I’m anxious to get back and see more.

Something that road-trippers in the US often remark on is how diverse the land is in America. I’d moved almost a dozen times by the time I was 20, so I’ve always felt like I had a pretty good sense of the great distance of this place and the variety of what one can see by traveling across that great distance. I'd not thought about that for a really long time. So, it’s so excellent to be reminded of that as part of this adventure, and for the kids to begin that awareness now. One of the goals of this trip is to continue to build these kids into travelers; help them become people who have seen interesting things and are filled with an eagerness to see more. They’ve each traveled a fair bit already for their respective ages. But it’s really fun to be see them start what I hope will be a lifelong journey and love of travel.