It can all change in an instant.
I thought my next blog would be about my last international trip; one I took not even two months ago to Europe. I told myself I’d pound out a blog about Brussels, my second stop on that trip so I’d have something to fill the space in my July/August travel newsletter that I also needed to develop and send out very soon. Writing the blog and the newsletter would be two more things I could check off my never-ending to-do list between trips this month. A time when it's felt like nearly every aspect of my life was back to moving at full speed ahead for weeks now.
But…as has been the case so many times since I’ve started writing this blog, life took a turn when I learned some incredibly sad and shocking news on Friday evening and I woke up very early the next morning knowing exactly what I needed to write next. As I’ve said before, this blog has become oddly personal for me. And while its goal is and still remains to be an avenue for sharing the stories of my travels and remembering the places I've been and people I've met along the way; somehow the why I travel has become an under arching theme that keeps weaving its way into everything I write.
A week or so ago I posted the following meme.
Read that again. I travel because I’d rather look back at life and say I can’t believe I did that instead of if only I had. It was just a simple meme I liked and thought I'd share. While I truly feel it's a motto I live by when it comes to travel; it was one that became quite fitting a mere week after I shared it.
Friday evening I learned a high school classmate of mine passed away suddenly earlier that day. She was three days shy of her 47th birthday. She was a cancer survivor, twice. She had a successful career. She adopted a beautiful golden retriever puppy just over a year ago. And she had a smile that said in every one of her social media posts that she was living life to the fullest.
We weren’t close friends in high school, but we ran in some of the same circles and shared many mutual friends. A few years after I had graduated from undergrad and was living in Winchester, VA, one day I remember seeing and hearing a familiar face, smile, and laugh on a news station out of Harrisonburg, VA and thought, "wait, I know her!" Years later through the age of social media, I kept up with her posts when she was on a news station in Roanoke, VA; her viral video of the fat cat swimming, with her infectious giggle in the background still makes me laugh to this day. Years after that, when I found myself in Roanoke for a work conference, she provided me recommendations for restaurants to check out while in town.
Then in late 2019, after she moved to Alexandria, the city where I work, we met up for dinner and reminisced on those high school years long ago. We caught up on each other’s lives since then and promised we’d meet up again soon…which soon became after the pandemic. Sadly, that never happened. I loved following her engaging posts that always featured a smile that said, “I’m living life to the fullest.” I’ll miss those posts in my feed and regret we never got to meet up again.
As I read through our Facebook messages over the last ten years or so, I was reminded she was that last person to encourage me to write my travel blog before I took that leap of faith in doing so. It was during that dinner in late 2019, that when she said how much she loved following my travels that I admitted I had been considering starting a blog. Being a writer and journalist herself, she encouraged me to go for it. It was just over a month later that I wrote my very first post. And a month or so after that, she was one of the first people who praised me for taking that leap. Her words, “I’m glad you started your blog, the writing is crisp and your stories interesting! Keep it up! (I’m heading there now to catch up!) I really enjoyed our happy hour/dinner. 😊 Talk soon & happy 2020!”
I wrote this blog in about 20 minutes yesterday (Saturday) morning, before I'd even gotten out of bed. On my drive out to the winery to work a few hours later after becoming frustrated that Pandora would not connect for my normal driving tunes, I reverted to the songs stored on my phone. The first song that played when I hit "shuffle" was fittingly Nickelback's "If Today Was Your Last Day."
For those that don't know the lyrics: My best friend gave me the best advice He said each day's a gift and not a given right Leave no stone unturned, leave your fears behind And try to take the path less traveled by That first step you take is the longest stride If today was your last day And tomorrow was too late Could you say goodbye to yesterday? Would you live each moment like your last? Leave old pictures in the past Donate every dime you have? If today was your last day (If today was your last day) Against the grain should be a way of life What's worth the prize is always worth the fight Every second counts 'cause there's no second try So live like you'll never live it twice Don't take the free ride in your own life If today was your last day And tomorrow was too late Could you say goodbye to yesterday? Would you live each moment like your last? Leave old pictures in the past Donate every dime you have? Would you call old friends you never see? Reminisce old memories Would you forgive your enemies? Would you find that one you're dreamin' of? Swear up and down to God above That you finally fall in love If today was your last day If today was your last day Would you make your mark by mending a broken heart? You know it's never too late to shoot for the stars Regardless of who you are So do whatever it takes Cause you can't rewind a moment in this life Let nothin' stand in your way Cause the hands of time are never on your side If today was your last day And tomorrow was too late Could you say goodbye to yesterday? Would you live each moment like your last? Leave old pictures in the past Donate every dime you have? Would you call old friends you never see? Reminisce old memories Would you forgive your enemies? Would you find that one you're dreamin' of? Swear up and down to God above That you finally fall in love If today was your last day
Truer words could never be spoken. Life is short. You don’t know when your time is up. You don’t know what the next day will bring. You don’t know who will cross your path and leave a mark on your journey, whether it be for a short period of time or for years. Those marks from those you connect with or re-connect with along the way can be meaningful. Many times before you realize how much.
Life is short. Do what you love. Live with no regrets. Meet new people. Connect with those that cross your path, even if they are short reconnections from other chapters in your life simply because your paths happen to cross once again.
And for me. I’ll travel. Because in the last few years I’ve been blessed to connect with some amazing and wonderful souls during my travels that I would have otherwise never have met and those moments that will forever remain priceless.
"I travel because I'd rather look back at life saying, "I can't believe I did that instead of "if only I had." - Unknown
This one's for you, Susan Bahorich, May you rest in peace knowing your zest for life touched so many during your short life. And based on those few hours over dinner in late 2019, I think I could say you embodied that quote on your journey in life.
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