tales of wander

So, where were we? 

The last time you heard from me, I was returning from Croatia and Slovenia, having finished a lovely trip in the company of lifelong friends. At that time, I was in the midst of a transitional period after a truly tumultuous year and the trip was a sort-of recovery for me—a time to decompress and regroup doing what I love most with people who love and support me. When I returned home from that trip, my focus was on “rebuilding.” The damage from my home disaster was repaired by then, so not “rebuilding” in the literal sense, but a figurative one—it was time to launch a new phase of my career where I returned to contract work so I can take more time off between contracts. It’s what I call “pre-retirement”—a phase that is not quite full retirement, but not quite full employment, either. It’s a period meant to help me ease out of the 9-5 mindset and into a space where time is more expansive.

It’s been almost a full year since then and while I’m not brave enough to say I’m completely out of that transitional period, I can confidently say that pre-retirement is off to a great start. Only a month after my return, I got a contract working for a consulting group. I can’t say enough about how perfect that experience was for me, how it rebuilt my confidence after a tough year, and how professionally rewarding it was to work amongst such a large group of talented people. It was the best launch into pre-retirement that I could’ve hoped for.

That’s the space I was in four weeks ago: approaching the end of a fantastic contract, getting ready for this trip, and generally feeling great after a morning bike ride. I rolled my bike into my garage and was greeted with an odd sound: flowing water. Further inspection revealed it was flowing from my garage ceiling, and yet more inspection revealed the source was the shower two floors above. Really?! This is starting to feel like a pattern.

Just a year after fixing the last disaster, here I am again—but this time, the disaster was related to a failed tub spout instead of a raging ice storm. It’s amazing how much havoc a small, $80 part can wreak, but wreak havoc it did, resulting in torn-out chunks of wall, ceiling, and floor on every level of my house—and all just weeks before this trip. Sigh. I suppose nothing is perfect. Thankfully, life regularly reminds me of that fact lest I grow too complacent. 

If you know me, you know that I’m a tidy sort of person, so leaving my house in disarray was not easy for me, but alas, it could not be helped. I’ve put that aside for the time being to focus on the trip ahead…

…which brings us here. 

After my trip last year, it occurred to me that while I’ve trekked and skied abroad, I’ve barely dabbled in the realm of my favorite physical pastime: cycling. Sure, I’ve rented the occasional bicycle while traveling, but I’ve never committed a portion of my trip to the sport I devote the most time to when I’m at home. I am rectifying that with this trip, which will kick off with a whirlwind cycling tour through the Baltics that will take me through Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. After the tour, I will head to Vilnius, then slowly make my way back north to revisit cities that the cycling tour merely breezes through. Finally, I end the trip with a jaunt to Finland, which is only a ferry ride away from Tallinn. It’s covering more ground than I usually like on a trip, but this area is smaller than many US states, so the size makes it all possible.

Without further ado, welcome to Estonia!