March 28, first stop, Murphy, NC

My first stop was Murphy, NC and my friends live on top of a hill. They suggested that I call from the bottom but I arrogantly thought I could make it to the top. HAHAHAHAHA big mistake... My front wheel drive Camry went up in Low gear about a quarter of the way. (total drive is 1350 feet and approximately a 10-12% grade. So... I stopped going forward, wheels spinning and slipping backwards. So, I put it in reverse and start to back down.... but when drive curved, I didn't quite curve so much and was sitting on just passed the edge of road... .not really in the ditch, but not on the drive either. I walked up the drive and counted it as good training for the 60 mile walk in San Francisco (hills). We waited until morning to do something about it as it was after dark before John got home. It poured down rain in the night and my car continued to sink. After a few attempts with a tow chain, it came out not so worse for wear... unlike the road which now had 4 holes in it.. which also were easily fixed. So that was my first nights excitement. Of yeah... not to mention the 4 month old boxer puppy who is huge and thought it was great fun to surprise me by jumping in the shower with me. Damn Dog, he'd snuck outside and around the house to come in the through the master bedroom's french doors to join me. I tried to squirt him to make him leave and he lapped it up and asked for more. I had to get out of the shower and take him by the collar to remove him. Too funny.

I loved spending time with John and Gracie and Brittney and the new baby Nathan. I remembered with affection standing in a seminar with John and Gracie when John declared he was going to build house in the mountains. We all went... NO.. you won't do that. What a treat seeing the beautiful custom home that he built and walking all the way around that wrap around porch to see the grand and colorful natural view.

Moving Out

Before taking off on my big adventure, I had to lease my home and move out. I put my home on the market to lease, the end of January. With the poor market, I think I saw about 20 For Rent signs within a mile of mine. I had someone coming to look at it the 23rd of February while I was out in Phoenix with friends. While in Phoenix, I looked at my clock and told the group that my house was being shown right now and asked that they join me in prayer that it leased. As we each raised our hands one by one and agreed on this petition to God, you could feel the energy in the circle. 10 minutes later, my phone rang saying they wanted the house. I arrived home on Tuesday night the 26th with an agreement to vacate by Sunday March 2nd. I had my work cut out for me and in the middle of it, I had an asthma attack and started having flu symptoms. All day on Friday, I could not move and stayed in bed. I had to get up and push through it. Friends came over and helped me on the weekend and we got it finished. The contract was signed, the house was clean, the new folks in and I drove off with a packed car across town to my godchildren's home. Once there, I collapsed. The next day, Le took me to the doctor where I was given a big shot of steroid in my tushie as well as a breathing treatment and 10 days of prednisone. It took me a week to recover and I then passed it on to most of Le's family. What an ugly flu bug that was.


I knew that this is what I had been preparing for, yet, it hit me hard that I had chosen to give up so much to take this trip. Without the attachments of my home and my things, I felt a bit unsettled. I love my home, it was my dream home when I purchased it and so intentionally choosing to let go of it and spend the year creating ME without material things was a big adjustment.


The month flew by. The plan was to stay through Easter and I added a few more days to see Bethany preform as a gangster in her school play, Bugsy Malone. The performance was great.

What is a Courageous Connection Tour?

In jest, I say it is a mid-life (crisis) Opportunity. ;-))
In truth, it is a spiritual journey.

It started as a joke a year ago when I left the corporate world and then took on a life of it's own where it was not only a possibility, but becoming a reality.

I named it Courageous Connections.

Courage to leave behind everything familiar.
For the last year, I've been clearing out... initially just the clutter and then the unnecessary. I have given so much away to charity and to freecycle and sold a few things on Craig's list. My home leased within 30 days of being on the market when there are probably 20 available within a mile of me. Fortunately, they took it furnished and everything was packed and put into a storage room. I didn't realize my attachment to stuff until I actually left it and it hit me. I've chosen to live on the road for the rest of this year taking the minimum with me. I've been with my godchildren for the last 3 weeks and doing the final downsizing here. I still have too much stuff.

Courage to accept people's generosity and trust them that what they say it true. They want me. They want to be a part of this adventure and they want to provide for me in their home. After talking about it for a year, I sent a survey to everyone who said they wanted me to stop at their home to set up expectations for both of us on what it would look like and what they were comfortable with. As those responses came in...
"I love you"
"I miss you"
"You are amazing"
"You are an inspiration"
I was overwhelmed with the love that came back through this information gathering process.

Courage to do my life's work outside my comfort zone. These people are working with me to set up workshops and speaking opportunities along the way.

Courage to ask for what I need. I had an epiphany on Jan 20th and made immediate changes in my diet. It started with needing to detox from a diet coke addiction. At this point, I've lost 17.5 lbs. As I travel, my intention is to maintain this healthy lifestyle and so it would not serve me to be greeted with sweets in 40+ homes across the states. People are pointing me to the hiking trails and supporting me to continue both walking and daily yoga practice along the way.

Courage to do some of the things on my "bucket list". I'll be whitewater rafting for the first time when I am in Colorado.

Connections because it is an opportunity for me to connect with myself. When you strip away all the identities that define me.. who I AM remains. I mentioned it is a spiritual journey, time for me to connect with my God. And time for me to connect with my network of friends all across the US.

So... when my 30 year HS reunion came up in the middle of this trip.. it fit both categories and was added into the travel plans.

Then I asked 2 friends to join me on the 3 day walk for breast cancer as it also supported my purpose.