Moving on?

It's the middle of June, and maybe I can finally wrap up this series of back-dated reflections on my trip to Scotland. One of the things that I spent a considerable amount of time thinking about (while there) was, What comes next?

In my account of Day 0, I told you that I had done a Tarot reading for the trip as a whole the week before we left. I had done that only once before, back in the middle of February, when I drew: the World reversed, the Star, and the 8 of Cups. At the time, I read those as follows:

• World reversed: You're not really going to be prepared for this trip. (This turned out to be true!)
• Star: The trip itself is going to be inspiring. (Also true!)
• 8 of Cups: After the trip, you'll be moving on somehow.

I didn't know what to make of that last one, so I spent some of my unoccupied time in Scotland mulling it. And I made a few notes. Some of these follow below (after the jump break).

DIGRESSION: In retrospect, that was the wrong way to read the 8 of Cups in that context. That card can also mean "withdrawal," and I think it's safe to say that in the month and a half since coming home I have withdrawn from the world pretty thoroughly: see here, here, and here. But of course I didn't know that then.

Walking and hiking

As I sat in the park in Balmaha on Day 3, I thought about why I had wanted to come on this expedition in the first place. Naturally I wanted to spend time with Debbie, and I generally enjoy international travel. But also the walking appealed to me, because I tell myself that I like to walk. 

Wait, … what? "Tell myself"? I mean, … I really do like to walk! Don't I?

Sure, but let's look at why. Walking is a gentle and low-impact activity. It's not running, which is hard work. It's not rock-climbing, which is terrifying. And it's not mountaineering, which is both! But this means like the kind of walk that ultimately did me in on Day 2 was in fact not the kind of walking that I enjoyed.

I followed this line of thought a little more as I waited for Debbie in Tyndrum on Day 6. Basically, I told myself, I have two choices in the future: plan for more serious hiking, or plan to avoid it. In the first case, I'll have to approach it seriously: through systematic weight training, through visiting a podiatrist to address my foot pain, and through a lot of practice hikes. In the second case … well, that one's a lot easier, isn't it? But I may end up as a flabby blob, kind of like my dad did by the end. Which do I want?

Bucket lists

For what it's worth, Debbie's motivation for walking the West Highland Way (and for some other walks she has already planned for the future) is that she loves being out in nature, and that she wants to squeeze in as much adventure as she can before she is restricted by age and infirmity. So these adventurous walks in nature are "bucket list" activities.

Interesting thought. What are my bucket list activities? I thought about this a little on Day 10.

In the first place, I want to travel: there are places I would still like to visit. But I think I'd like the visits to be a little less strenuous than this one was. And while Nature is indeed beautiful, I'm also fond of traveling inside Civilization. Debbie looked forward to the long, solitary walks; I found them beautiful, but I also looked forward to the hot meal at the end of the day. It's like Peregrin Took sang, while the hobbits bathed at Crickhollow:

O! Water cold we may pour at need
down a thirsty throat and be glad indeed;
but better is Beer if drink we lack,
and Water Hot poured down the back.

It's true I've done a little camping over the years—the most recent time seems to be the one I allude to here—but I like the easy sort of camping, where you can drive to your campsite and unpack directly from your car to the tent.

And of course the other thing that I want to do before I'm too old or infirm is to write my damned books. Now is the time, after all.

What else?

On Day 12, we went to see "The Beekeeper of Aleppo," and I left the theater wondering if I should put my long experience as a professional bureaucrat to work on something useful for a change, … something like helping displaced persons fill out their paperwork so they can get what they need? I don't have any idea how I would even approach that, though.

Many thoughts. No conclusions. And it's not like I'm doing anything about it now.

(Sigh.)