August 4, 2012 – 7 AM-Toronto

For the first time in my life I spent the night outside the USA, and what a night it was!  After traveling on the Megabus for 3 days and nights, I hadn’t had much sleep, so when I arrived at my friend, Doug’s house, I showered and went to sleep at around 6 PM.  I slept until 6 AM – twelve hours!!

I’m actually staying at Doug’s father’s home, which is in the Scarborough area of Toronto, in a neighborhood of neat, brick homes, all with immaculate lawns and beautiful, mature trees.  I haven’t met Doug’s dad yet because he wasn’t home when we arrived and I was asleep when he came home.  I look forward to meeting this 86 year old who has kindly allowed me to stay in his comfy basement apartment for my first three days in Canada.

Many people have asked why I’ve decided to set out on a long journey around the world.   Few people decide to go on an extended trip, leaving home, friends, and family for an entire year. One person asked if I had a terminal illness and was enacting my final wish!  The answer is no.  I have no illnesses at all and take zero (0) medications to maintain any mental or physical ailments.  I am blessed, as many people I know take several medications daily for depression, sleep, heart, blood, and diabetes problems.  I didn’t have to pack up any of those things for my journey – hurray! – more room for shoes!

So, I have no (diagnosed!) mental or physical problems.   I have simply always yearned to travel outside the US, and have never taken the opportunity to do so.  When the last of my 4 children graduated from high school in May, 2012, I decided to celebrate 31 years of devoting my life to motherhood by taking an extended trip outside the USA.  Why all at once?  Because there are so many places I want to see and I want to go from place to place without the expense of flying back and forth to the US over several years and trips.  I would like to spend one year in what most will deem a selfish and wasteful journey, because we aren’t allowed in the USA to imagine leaving work for any extended period.  I’m rebelling!  I’ve been rebelling since I turned 50 a few years ago, and this phase of my life feels right.  Maybe it took 50 years for me to mature, but I now feel more confident, genuine, and energetic than I’ve ever felt in my life.  My journey is a desire to see, experience, and grow in knowledge about the rest of the world.

Of course I’ll miss my children and my darling grandchild, Anna, but the children are all very able adults, and Anna won’t remember that Grandmommie was away during her early life.  With technology, I will be able to see photos, videos, and have real-time conversations through Skype with my family every week.  I will only miss hugging and kissing them all for this time away, and smelling that delicious baby smell of Anna. 

I will be so busy on this journey, and have scheduled visits to many friends I’ve met on FaceBook.  So far, I’ve met two FB friends – Neda and Doug, who are real-life friends themselves.  Neda lives in Washington, DC and Doug in Toronto.  Neda  is originally from Lebanon and has helped me understand the religious and political history of the Middle East.  Doug, like me, is a Christian who’s on a journey of understanding both the past and current religious and political aspects of the Middle East conflicts.  I’m happy that both these friends welcomed me so warmly into their homes.