The Next Adventure Begins: Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow!

Douglas at age 72 riding a electric bike around the island of Barbados with his son Brandon.

This week, Douglas and I will venture to Europe to see children and grandchildren who are living in Portugal. I haven’t been on a plane since 2021, when we visited Barbados to see the same kids and grandkids there. Yes, we will follow them around the world for those wonderful hugs. We will spend six days in Paris, Douglas’s first trip and my second. Then, we will spend six days in Amsterdam visiting some of Douglas’s friends he met in his twenties when he hitchhiked through Europe. He still keeps in touch with them through Facebook! How cool! Then, we will return to Porto from Amsterdam and spend nearly three weeks with our beauties.

I will admit that I haven’t fully overcome my fear of flying, but, as always, I know that I can’t enjoy the wonderful blessings that the Lord has for me if I don’t get on the plane and trust God with the rest. But isn’t that how we reach our full potential by not allowing our fears to dictate our lives? We put one step in front of the other, knowing that we have no control but trusting that all will be well. I will wear a mask on the plane, though, because Covid is still a very real threat, and I don’t want my adventure shortened because I failed to take precautions.

I am so glad to travel again, and I will do so with a lot fewer clothes than before. If I learned nothing from traveling before the pandemic, it is that I can pack fewer clothes and not pay to check a bag with a lot of clothes that I never wear. It’s amazing how we pack so many clothes because we want to be prepared for every eventuality. It is a way of trying to control some part of the process of traveling. But, as we are both over 70, we don’t want to haul a lot of excess poundage across four different flights. So, I am taking only the clothes that actually get worn when I travel. Renting Airbnbs with washers and dryers means freedom.

So, on this trip, I refuse to acknowledge the paranoia of FONTW (Fear of Nothing to Wear) and simply do the activities that suit what I have packed in the carry-on and personal bag. It will make getting around more comfortable and less stressful. You really can teach an old traveler new things! I am as excited as a kid at Christmas! And away we go, trusting and believing that the Lord is with us every step of the way! Thank God for a husband who loves adventures as much as I do!