One year ago today we packed our last possessions into the VW Rabbit and closed the door on our old apartment never to return. That was the beginning of the First Big Ride and a memorable summer. There is a certain ache that is the result of not being able to do it all again this summer. We will do it again, that travel across the country with nothing but what fits in the car; but one can’t easily do it every year. Once again, we can’t recommend strongly enough that if you have the chance to do a long road trip like we did you absolutely should do it. There is nothing like the feeling of being totally free and answering to only your own imagination and flexibility in life, even if it is just for a few weeks or months. We had always figured that this summer would be home-based, but the summer of 2011 will be another grand excursion. The question at this point is whether it will be North American again or Europe. Stay tuned.

It has been a long hard winter. We have been very busy and unfortunately saddled with too many colds and flu episodes. But the birds are returning and it might hit 60 degrees Thursday. Spring is here. At this time last year the idea for the Big Ride came to Paula and we spent a few weeks thinking about it seriously then nearly two months of planning. We are very glad we did it. But what about the coming summer?

Unfortunately, the full-blown Big Ride experience won’t happen again this summer. The first Big Ride was made possible because we were without an apartment for the summer, cutting down expenses. We actually spent about the same on the road as we would have staying in an apartment. This summer we have a lease on a nice house. Still, we simply have to have a good vacation, just not a three month jaunt around the continent. Paula is also leaning toward a stay-in-one-place vacation after last year and I can’t blame her for that.

But the idea will not die. The exchange rates are bad this year, but some day we hope to have the Big Ride experience in Europe–several months traveling through Europe. This summer I am leaning toward a week-long baseball trip, maybe four or more cities out east seeing games. Paula isn’t into baseball. So three or four weeks rather than three months is probably what we will do this summer. But hey, we’re open minded.

We have come full circle. We are back in the Chicago area. Ironically our hotel is next door to the restaurant where we ate breakfast the June 1st morning we left on our Big Ride. We didn’t plan that, it just turned out that way. It fits with how our whole journey has gone – no matter what has happened it has always turned out good. We have flowed and landed repeatedly in unexpected ways, often times ending up in much better circumstances than if we had followed our original plans and expectations. Success has been a product less of good planning and more of being open and flexible. People often ask us what we have learned from our journey. The best answer we have to that is that we learned how much more we can do and be when we let go of restraints and be open to possibilities and that impermanence is okay – that we are fundamentally alright no matter the details.

Though we are back in Chicagoland (the new term starts today) the journey never ends. We still have stories to tell and photos to post and the Big Ride this summer was a beginning to many more journeys to come. We may be back where we started but we are seeing this place different people and our lives back here will be much different and we have no doubt that it will be much better.