THE GREAT ESCAPE- Episode 02

All Roads Lead to Home?

All roads eventually do lead us home, and though our time spent there may not be a continuous vacation, the experience of getting back to our roots is never a bad thing. Yes, there is the potential for family feuds, lackluster reunions with friends, and an overall sense that you have returned to a place stuck in time, BUT all those seemingly negative possibilities have the ability to produce positive action.

I will always be a New Englander, even after time spent in the alpine, the desert, the Bay Area, and years abroad, there is nothing like that salty air. I grew up with the ocean a mere five minute walk from my house, so it has been a strange few years being away from the place where I probably belong most- by the crashing waves.

During the two weeks that I was home, I made a pact with my other half to eat as much raw seafood as possible, which meant multiple rounds of oysters, little necks, and sushi boats. Culinary expenditures aside, during this time, I felt a true cleansing of the palate and of the mind. I was finally getting the nutrients that my New England body needed to fuel not only my beach runs and autumn ocean dips, but also my creative passions.

It made me realize that I truly want to be a writer, a writer of the outdoors and all the things that come with it. It also made me realize that in the next calendar year I need to find my coast.

As a nomadic creature, I have had my fair share of epiphanies with each move I have made. One thing is for certain—there is no utopia. Fiji is great, but it’s not utopia.  All we can do is find the places that come close, explore, adapt, and in the end, learn more about who we are and what we really want in life.