Reflecting on the Year So Far

By three methods we may learn wisdom: First by reflection which is noblest; Second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience which is the bitterest. ~ Confucius

So for my Sunday night post this week I decided to sit back and reflect on the first six months of this year. In beginning each year, I don’t necessarily do resolutions but I do try to set some goals.  For this year the focus was on my upcoming adventure, originally that was to try to do 7 hikes on 7 continents and I was hoping to get up to 10,000 social media followers and then do a crowd source funding campaign to fund the adventure.  Well something I learned a long time ago was that I can make plans, but the only thing I am really deciding is a general direction that has once again proven to be true.

The Best Laid Plans

Fear is killing your happiness

The first revision to my plans this year was that the 7 hikes plan wasn’t going to work.  Unfortunately, partially due to my fear that I couldn’t make the crowd funding work and wouldn’t have the funding to do the whole plan.  So I began to adjust things and decided initially to change my plans and start by moving to Oaxaca City, Mexico, do two months there then head to Machu Picchu and a month in Peru.

My Broken Heart

So I had the plans in place for my trip and was trying to get some medical procedures taken care of before I go off work-based great insurance and go on to disaster control insurance.  So I had a wisdom tooth pulled and I scheduled a surgery to remove a lump from my back.  My blood pressure medication was no longer being effective so on the day of my surgery it spiked and I got cancelled out and needed to get cleared for the surgery by a cardiologist.  Well he heard a heart murmur and that started a medical roller-coaster that has lasted the last two months diagnosed me with a broken-heart and ended with my finally getting my surgery accomplished.

Little lump, giant bandage

So with my diagnosis of an aortic aneurysm doing time hiking at high altitude didn’t seem like the best idea so it was time to juggle my plans once again.

On the Road Again

So just because I have a newly diagnosed heart condition, doesn’t mean I’m not going on an adventure, life is not about existing but about actually living.  That is one idea that I truly hope that I have gotten across to you in writing this blog, it is without a doubt my deepest core value.  So I set about planning once again.

I will still be wrapping my job up at the end of June and hitting the road in early July.  I’m planning a few days in Las Vegas to celebrate the fourth of July.

Vegas Baby!

I then plan on meeting up with some friends in Sacramento, Lake Tahoe and Reno.  From there I will head east, making a stop in Nebraska to see a friend I haven’t seen in 25 years!  From there I’ll float east to Chicago and do something off my bucket list, catch a day game at Wrigley Field.  I had initially thought to take a trip to Pittsburgh to catch a Pirate game two days later, but then I found out that Steeler Training camp is opening and so instead, one more bucket list item, a day at Steeler’s Training camp in Latrobe, PA.

Rev Kane at a Steeler Game in Pittsburgh

From Pittsburgh I’ll be heading east to NY and hopefully Boston and see some family and friends before leaving the country.  My plans are to head for Glasgow, Scotland and after a couple of days in Glasgow and a stop at one of my favorite places St. Mungo’s Museum of Religious Art. I’ll head off to hike the Western Highland and the Great Glen Way. I’ve done the Great Glen before and really looking forward to the full two-week experience.

From there after a quick stop in Edinburgh I head for Spain and plan to hike the Camino de Santiago Primitivo, this should be another 2-3 three-week hike ending at the Spanish Coast.

Rev Kane goin native in the Scottish Highlands

From Spain it will be train time, train rides down through Portugal with a couple of stops eventually heading to Gibraltar and the ferry ride to Tangier in Morocco.  A couple of weeks in Morocco and then back through Spain, and eventually Glasgow and a flight back to New York. Once in New York I’m planning on doing the 100 mile NY section of the Appalachian Trail, including the last 7 miles of Connecticut that I have left to do.  Once completed that will give 8 out of 14 states finished on the Appalachian Trail.

Rev Kane on the Appalachian Trail at the Tennessee border.

From there the plan is to head off to Oaxaca City for a few months, continue to work on my Spanish language skills and do a whole lot of writing!  As well as working on a new website that I’m working on with a friend, but more about that at a later time.

So in looking back at the last six months although a lot has changed and it’s been a wild roller-coaster I’m pretty pleased with the year so far.  I’ve been through a lot but my plans are in place and I have one heck of an adventure to look forward to in the next six months.  And on the social media front, this past weekend I did finally hit that 10,000 social media follower goal, which was a goal for the year, it’s really important to believe in yourself and so far, so good in 2018!

Hopefully in looking back at your own year you see lot’s of good and lot’s of happiness, challenges overcome and that you have some positive things to look forward to coming up, including many happy days my friends.  ~ Rev Kane