Today we left Wisconsin around 8:30am and headed northwest toward Voyageurs National Park in Minnesota. Somehow the 226 mile trip took us 6 hours, but that may have been because of a provisioning stop along the way.

I’m excited that we’re now in a campground where we’ll stay for a whole week. The travel days hauling the camper are not among my favorite things. And I’m not even the one driving. Ray has been complaining for a week now that he doesn’t like the short stays and is worried about getting burned out on it. To be fair, it’s a lot of work loading & unloading. And for me, I am not a relaxed passenger. Driving in cars is probably the most dangerous thing any of us do, statistically speaking, and when the truck and camper drift onto those rumble strips at the edges and middle of the highways, it surges my adrenaline. So we arrived in Minnesota a bit whipped out.

But it got me thinking about these creature comforts, these favorite things that we brought with us. Like my hammock. And books. And my Nemo Stargazer chair. And my goose down comforter. A small Turkish rug Rhian gave me that warms my feet when I get up from bed. Dark roast coffee with oat milk creamer in a ceramic mug made by my brother. Books. Ebooks. Audio books. Olive the dog. And finally, finally, time in my life to enjoy all these.

There were lots of other favorite things I gave up to get here, but letting go of all those THINGS made me feel lighter and made room for the possibility of travel and adventure, and truly those are at the top of my list of favorites.