Adventure's Eve

In the movie The Hobbit, a favorite scene of mine is the one in which Bilbo Baggins decides he will join the dwarfs and goes running through the countryside gleefully crying he is going on an adventure. I, too, have a wandering spirit, but have been trapped most of my life, the ability to adventure happening only within the past year. Now, however, I am going on the biggest adventure I have ever known -- a trip for three weeks to Europe to see places I have only ever dreamed of, to explore and experience cultures I have only ever read about.

What is it about the night before an adventure that causes the heart to race, the mind to wander, and the spirit to be both frightened and soaring at the same time? I find myself contemplating so many things as I sit here writing, eating a bowl of watermelon: do I have everything I need? Will I survive the flight (as I am terrified of flying)? What will the people be like? Can I stuff everything I want to do into the time I have given myself? Will I find peace, and will I want to come home? The answer to all of these questions is a simple one -- only time will tell.

This adventure is a particularly poignant one for me as I have never really traveled or been on my own in my life ....ever. I have never been out of the United States save a trip to Canada with my husband over 20 years ago. I would fly home from college, but I always had someone waiting for me at the other end to help me. For the first time, I will be on my own, no one to help me if I get into trouble, no one to tell me where to go or what to do. My time and adventure will be my own. For the first time, I will experience true freedom, at least for a little while, and the thought is both exhilarating and terrifying at the same time.

Like Bilbo, I am going on an adventure, embracing the unknown, proverbially running through the countryside with my feet light and my head in the clouds. Like Bilbo, I understand the importance of an adventure, the need to experience life, not just live it. And like Bilbo, I will come home with many stories to tell and a wandering heart that will not be silenced any longer.