Grandma and I at Tanque Verde Ranch.

I get this question all the time – “Don’t you miss your family & friends?”. It’s the #1 reason people tell me they couldn’t travel like I travel. The answer is YES, absolutely I miss my friends and family. All the time in fact. It’s a big sacrifice you make to live the vagabond lifestyle. I missed a good friend’s wedding this year (I swear I will meet your husband someday Andrea!), and missing out on big events in the lives of people I care about is tough. I pride myself on being dependable and selfless; it is however an attribute which this trip has not been excellent at fostering. So in keeping with being good to my family and being dependable I returned for Grandma’s special birthday. The importance of family to me grows every year and so being there became an important priority. It made mom & grandma especially happy to see me, and for those of you in Seattle & San Francisco I’m sorry to have not seen you and spent more time with you, but family is family. I’ll return to the states in the future for a lengthy reunion I promise, but I didn’t want to come back to see people for a few bittersweet days; my journey is far from over and I’m not ready to come back yet.

Enough of that though, let’s talk about my grandmother. She’s amazing and it’s hard to believe she’s 80. What’s more impressive is she may be the first person to read this statement. Not just because she gets up at 530am most days, but because she’ll read my blog on her laptop when she gets the email update first thing in the morning. I’m pretty sure Grandma was the first in our family to own a kindle too.

My grandma is cooler than your grandma. I was 17 and had flown once again to ever interesting Middlefield Ohio for a family get together on my Aunt’s ranch. It’s 8 hours of travel at minimum to get there from the west coast. I sit down at the plaid table and grandma says, “You look tired dear! Would you like a beer?” I’m pretty sure mom never offered me a beer before the age of 18.

My grandma is hardier than your grandma. When I arrived in Tucson, Grandma suggested we go to the national observatory to have a tour of the evening sky. What was somewhat overlooked was that the tour would go from 4pm-9pm, and temperatures in December in Tucson at the observatory at night were dropping into the teens. Most of an evening tour of the observatory involves sitting in the frozen & cold atrium of the giant telescopes and gazing at absolute wonders of the universe. I recall there were two girls there from Philadelphia in their early 20s. They ditched out on the tour because it was too cold for them. Grandma didn’t complain a bit. She’s tough like that.

I’ve met some ancient looking women in my travels. 70+ year old ladies in Nepal who’ve probably never ridden an airplane. Old chinese grandmothers who don’t know what the internet is. It makes me proud to look back at the savviness and self-reliance of my own grandma; she’s not old or ancient, she’s savvy and well to do.

Here’s to you Grandma. May I have something equally fun to write when you reach 90.