Living the Dash!

 

Do you know what "living the dash" means? Most folks don't.   

The dash is the time that exists between the day you were born and the day you die.  My POV is when you are living the dash, you are making the most of the time you have here on earth.

I like that phrase because it reminds me to pause and reflect, check-in, and then decide upon the next course of adventures.  For me, it also correlates with Robert Frost's poem "The road not taken".  I added that poem into my dissertation dedication because I often take the path others do not.  

• My college graduation present (1981) was completing a NOLS' 30 day program in the Absaroka Wilderness.  The school's goal is to teach you how to live in the wilderness leaving no trail behind.  We hiked with 70 lb packs on our back; slept at 10,000 feet altitude and often hiked up to 12,000 feet; had food brought in by horses twice, and slept under tarps.  The final adventure was hiking 40 miles in 4 days, without food! 
• I was part of the first cohort for the Doctor of Philosophy in Education and Social Change at Bellarmine University.  
• When I had the opportunity to teach at a state university in 2012-2013, I figured out a way to take an academic sabbatical from my current position and not lose any years towards retirement - pick up 2 extra courses while taking PhD classes.  I also traveled to India that December as part of my PhD program - 1st one to do so.  

 In July 2024, I finished up my dash as a JCPS educator (25+ years).

  That is a whole other story for another day.

My next adventures involve Jeff (my husband of 39 years) checking off some items from his bucket list.  Back in the '80's he sailed from New Jersey to South Africa and then to Australia on a 38' steel boat.  The captain of this adventure was Marv Creamer (NY Times Obit & Sailing by Starlight book).  During the time sailing, Jeff happened across a book about Antarctic exploration - .  

That adventure, the sailing and reading, embedded a traveling bug in Jeff and he set the goal to travel to all 7 continents.  By the summer of 2024, all that was left were South America and the Antarctic, with a sailing trip planned for January 2025!

To get ready for that adventure, Jeff thought it would be beneficial if we were to take a shorter sail the summer of 2024, in a similar environment and thus the sail from Norway to Iceland.   So that is where this story begins.