Originally, I was going to start this post with a quote – which is something I strive not to do as I find it a bit lazy to start a post that way.
Instead, I do it with my own thoughts.
The world is a huge place full of journeys and trips and experiences. Your spot in life make it infinitely large or much smaller. Factors are not limited, but can include finances, time, family, or the lack of interest in exploring beyond what you know.
I like to explore. And I would love to venture into Europe more, or other places that might never happen. But I also want to explore my own country as it’s vast with a ton of amazing history.
My window of where I want to travel has also been reeled in because of Harper. The reality is, one of the reasons I got a dog is because I wanted that best friend. One I could explore with and see so many things. A golden retriever’s lifespan is 10-12 years, though many do go beyond that. But, even if you get a 14-15 year old pupper … many at that age will not be looking to go on crazy hikes and such. Plus, if Harper reaches 15 years old, I’ll be much closer to retirement, anyway.
I figure my true window of traveling big with Harper is more in the now-8 year range, give or take.
So, the planning starts now.
In two years, I’ll be hitting a major milestone. I’ll be half a century old at that point (!) and I’m in the beginning stages of planning a major road trip. This will be geocaching based, but also a chance to see many places, bring Harper, and explore as much as possible over a two-week stretch.
Originally, the plan was to drive across the top of the country and then back home across the bottom. Along the way, we’d hit as many National Parks as possible.
One issue? Well, it seems many national parks are not dog friendly. Though I get it when it comes to animals living in the park to what could happen to plants etc., I also wonder how parks have not found ways to make things dog/pet friendly. Being outside is part of the greatness of having dogs.
For example, I don’t see the point in going to Yellowstone if I can’t take Harper to see Old Faithful. I’m not leaving her in a car, or putting her up at some boarding place at the park.
It just means I need to reevaluate where this trip takes me.
We could still do the cross-country trip and instead be selective where we go, and what we see. Or, we could change direction all together. Acadia National Park in Maine is apparently very dog friendly. Maybe it’s an east coast trip where we start to go down the coast, and then flip it around and come back up and end up in Maine. And the best part of that is when in Maine, we might be able to go into Canada and get to a few provinces (geocaching wise) such as Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and maybe even Prince Edward Island, pending on travel time.
Or maybe there’s some sort of a mixture of things. The road trip is the way to go, though. I don’t plan on flying Harper as I don’t like how it’s done. That would rule her going to a place like Iceland with me.
The good thing is I have a couple of years to plan this out, but I will be finding a place for sure. And the plan, of course, is for Harper to be with me every step of the way!
As for where I will go? We shall see soon enough!
This post is part of the 2022 20 Days of Chill Writing Challenge hosted by A ‘lil HooHaa. Please check out the links (intro I themes) if you’d like to see the setup and themes! You don’t have to do every theme if you don’t want to! And for those participating, take a moment and check out the other participants!
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