Unforgettable Journeys to take before you die by Steve Watkins and Clare Jones

Explore Shackleton's Antartica

Drive Along Route 66, U.S.

Take the Blue Train, South Africa

Singapore to Bangkok by the Eastern & Oriental Express, Thailand

Travel the Silk Road, Iran

Discover Tribes, India

River Journey to Mandalay, Myanmar

Float down the Canal du Midi, France

Down the Yukon River, Cananda

Journey to Shibam, Yemen

Explore La Ruta Maya, Central America

Ice Cap Traverse, Patagonia, Argentina

Through Patagonian Fjords, Chile

Gypsy Caravanning, Ireland

Darjeeling Himalayan Railway Excursion, India

Trek the Gibb River Road, Australia

Drive Across the Salt Flats, Bolivia

Walk the Lake District, England

Hike through the Autumn in New Hampshire and New York, U.S.

Rome to Venice by Tall Ship, Italy

Travel to Timbuktu, Mali

Ride the Trans-Siberian Railway, Russia

Tour the Kiwi Wine Route, New Zealand

Camino de Santiago Pilgrimage, Spain

Horse-Riding Safari, Botswana

Track the Reindeer Migration, Sweden

Search for Polar Bears, Canada

Discover Gaudi, Spain

Gorilla Mountain Hike, Rwanda

This list holds unending intrigue.  Where are all these places?  What makes them "unforgettable"?  Have people I know journeyed these paths?  Do I consider the commitment to journey each before I die?  Would I be a different person if I did?

I heard this New Year's Resolution on the radio:

To be the best I can be in all the little and big things-honoring God in the process.

Currently Listening Long Gone Before Daylight By The Cardigans see related

I already miss my family

and I haven't even left yet. 

Will I never escape

the intense yearning, the powerful desire,  

to have them bound so tightly to my heart

that I am squeezed achingly between them,

whether they be touching my shoulders or miles away?

Will my thirst for their encompassing warmth

ever be quenched enough

that I cease wanting to melt them with fire

and down them like hot spice tea

because I crave to feel their burning love inside?

Will I always hold them too tightly in my fist-

afraid that they will slip through the cracks with one loosened finger?

I never will...will never be...always will. 

It's inevitable. 

Currently Listening Foolish Games By Jewel see related

If you missed reading Jacqueline Woodson in your young adult years then head to your local library to check her out.  I recommend "If you come softly" and "Behind You."  

             And if you come I will be silent

             Nor speak harsh words to you

             I will not ask you why, now

             Or how, or what you do.

              We shall sit here, softly

              Beneath the two different years

              And the rich earth between us

              Shall drink our tears.

                        -Jacqueline Woodson

The library holds an infinite number of treasures.  Today, moving furniture uncovered one of the most precious yet...a plastic bag filled with one young adult's green, rotting, slimy, fermented tobacco juice.  The mementos and marks they chose to be remembered by never cease to astound me. 

Following up on my last Xanga entry.  My bangs have grown out and now look rather hip uneven.  I dropped my phone again in the driveway on my way in from work the other night.  Yet this time, my ears were tuned to catch the muffled landing and the sight of the previous phone's demise flashed through my mind.  I turned back in time to rescue myself from another replacement fee.