I’ve tried on several occasions in the past month or so, to write a post. I’ve had little success. One day I’m feeling, “woohoo, life is awesome, we’ve got big plans, and can’t wait to retire!” A couple days later, I’m a freakin little sad sacks and I can’t drag my ass out of bed. I’ll write, then I’ll delete a day or two later, and write again.

The truth is, my life is wonderful, but that’s not how my brain works. Anxiety, mood swings and bouts of mild depression, and before you know it, I’ve convinced myself, my life sucks. It’s a freakin roller-coaster.

In one of the many self-help books I’ve read over the years, I once read; you do not whistle because you’re happy, you’re happy because you whistle. Everyday I get to choose whether I’m happy or not, just by choosing to whistle or not? I believe this is true. I know what I need to do to keep my crazy side in check. I need to keep busy, keep a to-do-list, especially on the weekends. I need to put my headphones on and go for a walk after work and decompress. I like writing, it’s cathartic, and, I need to travel. It’s good for me, travel makes me a better person.

Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime. ~Mark Twain

It’s Friday and I’m at work, writing while on coffee break, and unbelievably, the police and an ambulance just came pulling in (that’s never good). It’s nobody from my company, but it sounds like someone’s just had a heart attack. They’ve been doing CPR on this guy for awhile. It’s a big job, with 500 plus people working here. Fellow construction workers, my brothers and sisters, I hope he makes it. An hour later I find out, it was one of the plumbers from Teddy’s crew. He did not make it. That guy, is not going home. Whenever it’s my time, I’m sure my last thought is not going to be, I wish I poured more concrete.

My time is limited here, and I’ve spent too much of it struggling as an alcoholic, a workaholic, and just simply, screwed up. I’ve spent too much time being angry, or even worse, feeling nothing. Over the years I’ve become more thoughtful, and, more sensitive, because of travel. Refer back to Mark Twain’s quote. I can’t possibly say it better.

It’s Saturday now, I’ve just gotten back from my morning walk, and the garden center. I’m in a great mood, the “woohoo, life is awesome, we’ve got big plans, and can’t wait to retire” mood. So, I’d like to finish this post before I crash and burn, and everything starts to suck again, hahaha.

I’ve been walking everyday, eating better and losing weight. Finances are good, and Day and I are talking about what an early retirement might look like. We are hoping for a trip to Prague this summer, Vienna and Prague for Xmass and New Year’s, and possibly Italy in the beginning of 2022.

Until then, I’ve been watching travel videos on YouTube, and dreaming of all the places we’d like to see. Day wants to try her hand at being a cowgirl for a week at a “dude ranch” in Montana or Wyoming (as long as it has a full service spa). For her 50th, she wants to raft the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon, which looks awesome. All of this sounds great to me!

Rick Steves has a great travel channel on YouTube, along with Touropia and Expedia. I binge watch, look forward to when we can travel again, and try to keep the crazy at bay.

Explore. Dream. Discover. Travel.
Luv ya,
Curly