I’m finishing up my workweek and getting pumped about a camping adventure. This will be a very different one for me as most/all of my camping as an adult has been family centered. 
This weekend I’ll be with friend Tom and his son Charlie. The weather is cool and it looks like it will rain tonight, but those are small deterrents, as far as I’m concerned. 

My eventual life goal is to travel a bit as I write and document with my camera. 

I have been slowly moving towards that goal. First I reconfigured my professional life to a less stressful one. Then I gave up foods that were making me sick. Then I lost some weight, and then I started down the down the road of being more physically fit. (The above with considerable help). 

On the writing front I’m trying to be more honest with my feelings, as I write in ever more public forums. 

Now this piece. I need to be able to leave my family for a little bit and understand that they will do just fine. I’m not used to taking care of myself, it is so much easier for me to take care of others (as I have done all of my life). 

There are other pieces still to come. I need to become more functional as an extrovert, a pretty tall order for a shy introvert like me. 

I don’t have illusions that all of this will lead to the NYT’s best seller list. With that said, I feel compelled to continue this mission. That compulsion drives me forward.