Ahhh. The one I would normally pick to write about is, “Speak the truth, even if your voice shakes,” but I’ve written about that before.

It’s no coincidence that my favorite quote concerns travel.

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” ~ Mark Twain

I try to live without regrets or guilt. It’s not always easy. Balancing what is right for me, against what was ingrained in me what is the polite thing to do. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, it’s not easy being a woman in my beloved South. Travel got in my blood early, and I did it right. I never said no when Co-Op presented me with an excursion, flying me to Texas and St. Louis and Las Vegas. I practically lived in a Lance camper for six months, touring the southwest, flying in & out of Salt Lake half a dozen times and to Seattle once. I forwent communication with several friends and family during this time, but for the most part we’ve made peace with it. I was 25, and I would do it all again. And then I traveled alone, because I wasn’t going to wait around on someone to go with me. And those were the best trips of all.

I say do what you want to. It will always be easier to ask forgiveness than permission. If you’re wrong, and you’re sorry, then apologize. Those that truly love you will forgive you, even if they don’t understand. Let people make their own bad decisions. The more you try to hold them down or steer them into what you think is the right choice, the more they’ll resent you. And that’ll probably make them do it twice and take pictures.

“Doing what you like is freedom. Liking what you do is happiness.” ~Frank Tyger

Master it. None of us are getting out alive, anyway.