Begin and Adapt

"Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back-- Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth that ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamed would have come his way. Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it. Begin it now."

-Johann Wolfgang Goethe

Ready or not, here we go! After years of dreaming and planning, we are finally living our dream of exploring the US without much of an agenda besides the cliche-but-honest mission of learning (by experience) to live more fully and love more truly.

We’ve been on the road for over one month and we’ve already experienced so much (too much to get into details here). We’ve seen some beautiful nature/wildlife, ate some tasty local foods, visited many touristy attractions, experienced the highs of open-road freedom and the lows of new challenges and a near-constant sense of insecurity.

The highlight of our adventure has definitely been the many amazing people we have met on a daily basis. Going into this trip we knew that we were taking a leap of faith and putting a lot of trust in the goodness of people. So far, we have not been disappointed. When given the opportunity, people are good (from what we’ve experienced). For lodging, we have been using an online network for travelers and hosts called couchsurfing.org. Between this network and the hospitality of friends/family and the juggling community, we have paid nearly-nothing for lodging in the first chapter of our adventure. We can’t say enough good things about our “couch surfing” experiences the generous hospitality we’ve received all over the Northeast.

Pizza. New friends. Pancakes. Juggling. Driving. YMCA. Hiking. Podcasts. Hospitality. Fall colors. Green Mountains. Juggling. Joggling. Experience. New challenges. Instability.

There are many words that do a good job of summing-up the beginning of our wandering adventures, but if I had to pick one word to describe our experiences so far I would have to say: ADAPT. Every day is a new adventure full of unexpected twists and turns. The first four years of our marriage were largely based on routine and predictability, but these last 50 days have been anything but-. It can be stressful waking up in the morning and not knowing where we are going to sleep that night (which has happened a few times). It is difficult to go from sleeping in a private room in the 3rd floor of a Cambridge mansion to sharing a cold and bug-infested front porch with a smelly cat the next night (which has happened). But every day we are becoming more adaptable and that, to me, has been the theme of our adventures so far.

To see more pictures and get daily updates on our adventures, log on to Facebook and check out "Bob and Trish Juggling".