Second Thoughts

This week has been productive in terms of planning.  Zoey is almost finished examining the last stage of our trip by choosing campsites along a pre-established Adventure Cycling route.  After that is all settled, we will pretty much be done planning our route, save for some minor tweaks.  I've been doing some research on building a solar powered charging station to attach to our bikes, which is definitely an exciting and challenging end of semester project.

This week has also been disappointing.  For various reasons, it does not look like Janie will be able to do the trip with us this summer.  Now that our trio is down to two, we have a lot to think about as we re-evaluate our plans.  Safety concerns that we (and our parents) had with three riders are even more pertinent with two riders.  This change has really forced me to take another look at the trip as a whole and think about what makes sense.  Should we still do the trip? Is it naive to believe that two young women biking 3000+ miles across the United States will come away unscathed?  Do we have to change our route to only go through "safe" places?  I really don't know the answers to these questions.  No one really does. The only thing we can do is keep discussing it and putting out our best thinking as we try to figure it out. 

This week I am even more impassioned about this trip.  Through numerous conversations with Zoey, Janie, my parents, Zoey's parents, and many friends, I realize how critically important this trip has become to me.  A conversation that especially stands out in my mind  is one I had with Susan, Zoey's mom.  She took a similar adventure when she was our age traveling across Europe with her cousin.  She had some extremely useful insights about, well, everything.  As she put it, the goal of this trip should not be the end destination.  Its not really about biking across America.  Its really about people.  First and foremost, its about my relationship with Zoey and our longstanding friendship.  Its about the connections we will make with people along the way- people we have just met, but yet have so much in common with.  Its about decision making, and having the flexibility to turn back or go exploring in a particular place we find interesting.  Its about our personal growth and confidence as individuals, as we do something that is both exciting and a bit scary.

I really couldn't agree more.  I hope it all turns out for the best.