Two Years on the Road

Two years ago, today, we left dear Missoula, after selling, donating or storing nearly everything we owned, and after an especially frantic day and night of final packing and storing. But we made the plane to San Francisco, and then, after a less than one day visit with Rebecca and Jeremy, we made the next plane, to Tokyo, and then another, to Beijing. And so our retirement travels had begun. Nearly 800 posts on this blog as well as many entries on our website chronicle these two years. It's interesting to reflect that no previous years of our lives have been so well chronicled.

Many other reflections come to mind. We have seen many sights, met many people, touched on five continents, endured a few minor difficulties, and had many interesting and edifying experiences. The reflection that most readily comes to mind is that, even after two years of this traveling routine, our mindset--both of us--is still in "vacation" mode. Particularly as September rolls around, both of us, former educators, think about going back to work or school. Every day we have to remind ourselves that we are not really in a hurry, that we can spend another day or week if we want, that this is our lifestyle. We do miss having a home, and particularly our family and friends, but we'll get back to those things soon enough.

Meanwhile, if there are not enough castles, museums, cathedrals, and standing stones to see, or food and drink to savor, there is always the quotidien even of travel. Currently we are at a nice-enough campground in Pest (as in Budapest), two tram stops from the Danube. We have enjoyed touring this great capital. The weather today is grey and cool and threatening rain. Our particular challenge this morning is finding tires for our campervan. It is a Sprinter, made by Mercedes, and the tires are Conti's, whose world headquarters is in Vienna. But we have not been able to find these tires anywhere in Austria or Hungary. We have a lead back in Vienna and may have to back-track 160 miles there to get the tires. We need them before heading out of the EU/Schengen countries, into Rumania, Bulgaria, and Turkey. But we're still having great fun and great experiences. Stay tuned for year #3.

Continental "VancoFourSeason" 245 75 R16, load range E,

120/116Q; got any?