Written for the Leader-News Jan 2023
Happy New Year! I'm not one for New Year's Resolutions, but I'm one who loves to reflect and dream of new adventures for the coming year. Like most of you, I'm in that 'it was quite a year' category. We had some crazy medical woes, the big grandparent promotion, and the normal ups and downs that come with this being an adult bit. On that note, my mind is often going back to the incredible adventure my family had this past summer.
We had been planning for years. Originally, we were supposed to go in July of 2020. For obvious reasons we weren't able to go. We were disappointed of course but it turned out to be a blessing in disguise as it gave us more time to prepare. Not ones to sit around, we got out overlanding as much as we could both near and far. We typically start planning our destination in the fall and start planning from there. In March, our plans for our summer overlanding trip fell through. We started debating on whether or not this was the year to do our big trip. By April we were committed, and in July we set off for the trip of a lifetime.
What in the world is overlanding you ask? Overlanding is self-reliant overland travel to remote destinations where the journey is the principal goal. Typically, it is accomplished with off-road capable vehicles where the primary form of lodging is camping. This is something my family is crazy about. We thrive on the roads less traveled, and love tent camping. So much so that we loaded up our Land Cruiser/Adventure-mobile (complete with rooftop tent) with our girls and pups in tow and set off for Tuktoyuktuk in the Northwest Territory of Canada. 23 days, little to no cell service, over 7,000 miles round trip, multiple ferry crossings, 24 hours of daylight, 2 oceans, 4 time zones, 5 Canadian provinces, and one state later, this was our amazing Arctic Adventure!
It's hard to try and condense such an epic adventure into one short column, this will be a story for another time! When we came home, it felt strange to not be within eyesight if not feet of each other. We saw some of the most breathtaking landscapes and bucket list animal encounters. Just when we thought we'd seen some of God's best artwork, we'd come across another sight, person, or critter that would make our jaws drop. My absolute favorite thing of the trip was that my hubby and I got to witness it all through our daughter’s eyes.
Back in February our youngest daughter added more gray hairs to Matt and my collection. She has epilepsy, and we learned through some fun hospital hopping this year that she has some other issues related to that. When we started tossing around the idea of our Arctic Adventure, this weighed heavily into our decision. At the end of the day, we knew she was going to have seizures whether we stayed close by or ventured to the Arctic Ocean. There was even some intense but polite questioning from some family and friends on our choice to go. We also came to the realization that our kids are getting older and their schedules are getting busier and busier. We felt this was a now or never moment. If we didn’t pull the trigger now, we’d probably never go. Planning that big of a trip in three months sounds daunting, but it just felt like everything was falling into place perfectly. I can't help but think about how much we would have missed out on if we wouldn't have gone. The memories made were priceless. Every bit worth the challenge and all the planning.
So what's keeping you from your version of our "Arctic Adventure?" Even if it's just across the state or maybe just a few counties away. My hope for you is to take the leap, don't let fear stop you, make the plans even if it's on short notice, and go on your great adventure. I promise you won't regret it.