for love nor money
Published January 5, 2008 | 
You are standing on a beach one unremarkable afternoon. Somewhere in a lost thought you find yourself thinking of distant land unseen on the other side. In just a little firecracker of a thought you think, “There’s got to be a way.”.
You’d think it was forgotten until the next day when it crosses your mind again as you’re mowing the lawn. Just that little thought can niggle for days and weeks.
It crosses your mind while you shower, or on those nights when you can’t get to sleep. Then one day you find yourself looking a chart. You do quick math to estimate miles per day and the time it would take. You think back on your other trips. At this point it’s sort of a curious fantasy. Not that you are really planning to do it. You are not even trying to tell yourself it can be done. In fact you are trying to convince yourself it can’t be. You find yourself accidentally in a sort of challenge match to prove the fatal flaw in your thinking.
Next thing you know you very tentatively start mentioning it to friends and family. And here’s the surprise. . they are SUPPORTIVE. They are supportive for the simple reason that they know if you do it, it’s because you have to. AND they trust your judgment. With that, a little flood gate opens. That’s when things start really moving. Now you start thinking a bit more seriously. You look at the costs, the time, fitness, what you need, etc. Still though, you are not really sure it’s possible. You start seeking out experts and really for the first time you start dealing with doubters. Of course they could be right and you know it. So you just keep making calls, sending out emails and gathering all the information you can. You start actually penciling out some sort of outline. You see what kind of time you can take from work. You look at your families plans. You find yourself thinking of money. AGAIN!! You look at the climate and weather conditions. A rough window of time begins to appear. You think to yourself. . “I’d need a boat. . . ” It’s right about in there when you realize or at least convince yourself that it CAN be done.
Some of us would stop right here.
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7 Responses to for love nor money
Don’t you just throw the hunting gear into the back hatch and paddle out? Are you really sure about all this planning stuff? I thought the idea was that hunger drove you out, you then stayed out until you got enough food to feed the family. At that point you returned to the beach and everyone ate. No food, no return. The simple life…
LOL! I don’t think we have seals around here. . . maybe we could paddle up to the back door of a McDonalds. . . .
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Ok, stop jerking us around. Where are you thinking of going?
You just described how I felt about a year ago when I got a “crazy” idea. I’m still planning mine, hope yours takes flight (or paddle?), a little faster!
(one of the recaptcha words was “Possible” – I think it’s a sign)
actually, I was just writing a theme.
But some of those elements I think it may be like for some people when they set their mind on a trip. I usually start with google earth myself. 
I only recently discovered my next expedition by browsing google earth after getting the feelings you describe.
I see this place that looks interesting on the map, do some research and find out that it would make a perfect less than three week expedition for me.
(Three weeks is my vacation limit).