Joe

Through these extended travels I am constantly reminded of the brief lengths and the narrow breadths in which our lives are confined...

He kept telling me what I was doing was a truly great thing. That when I am older and reflect back on these travels I will cherish them forever.He looked at my backpack and began to tell me that he always wished he did something adventurous in his youth. Like hitch hiking cross-country or sailing from island to island. I felt incredibly sad to be hearing this from a human being, as if he had no hopes of fulfillment… never to have a chance to live his dreams.

The part that broke my heart is that he considered it was too late and that his life was practically over…
A senior who has lived 4 times the amount of life compared to me a teenager. The home stretch of our life should be our best... maybe not physically, sexually, or socially but it's the time when we mentally tick the boxes. It's not a time for regret it's the time that we make things happen, there literally is no better time then those years. The bitter realization will dawn that soon we become part of this earth.

Sometimes I feel like a freeloader. Even though the people that open their car doors and front doors are doing it willingly. I try to repay those people but not in a materialistic way… I may not give them pieces of paper with dollars signs. I try and give them more than that = Inspiration, experiences, encouragement and fulfillment. You know all that 'cliche' stuff that majority of us don't give. The stuff we read on quotes that smother our news feeds of social media. The sentences we preach but never practice. 

So I sat down with Joe and we spoke over a coffee and blueberry muffin - no butter of course he's trying to keep an eye on his blood pressure... An afternoon filled with reflection, caffeine, stories, tears and laughter.

It came time that I had to head out. He asked if he could watch me pick up my backpack and walk out the Cafe doors across the road into the pine trees after I kindly declined a lift as I was close to my destination. As I pushed open the front door to the cafe I turned around to see Joe's emotions get the better of him, we exchanged a brief wave and I embarked on another journey.


I left Joe 7 months ago in a small town of Alaska. 

Recently I received an email from Joe and he's doing well. He built up the courage and him and his girlfriend are going on a train ride cross country from East Coast to West Coast of the United States. Joe 73 and Patricia 68. He told me that if he never picked up that hitch hiker on the Alaskan Highway on that warm summers afternoon with a backpack bigger than herself he wouldn't have built up the courage to live his dream. That girl with the backpack bigger than herself was me. I'm making Joe live his dream. That's the biggest accomplishment in these past 11 months. 





May the space between where you are and where you want to be inspire yourself and others around you...