Why this road trip?

It's an obvious question given that I'm almost 3000 miles from home now, but the answers are not as transparent and, actually, are in the midst of being sussed out on this trip. The convenient answer is to say that I wanted to see my beloved Aunt Karen in Maine but wasn't ready to fly, yet.  But, to be honest, that isn't the complete answer to the question.  I needed to travel solo. I needed space to think, to reflect, to "suss out," all the emotional trauma that this year caused to my heart and soul.  I do realize that I am not alone in these feelings and that I am privileged to have the time and resources to take a trip of this magnitude. 

Five to six years ago, I had begun to question what I believed about certain areas of my life: politics, religion, and relationships, to name a few - basically, almost all the big stuff.  And, what informed those beliefs - how in the world did I come to believe "this" was absolute fact, whatever the "this" was. 

Then 2020 happened. 

Everything that I had begun interrogating was put in a pressure cooker, we were living in unprecedented times (I'm still shocked about the shut-down of the world, much less the USA), we were stuck at home for months with nothing to distract us and we were bombarded with information and opinions left-and-right, ad nauseum, and then I began my Masters which exerted even more stress on an already stressful situation, and then the hot-mess that was 20-21 school year began.  

The good news is that I am coming out the other side, more sure of what the scriptures say, more sure of what I believe AND much more comfortable with the fact that my understanding will evolve - that's what life-long learners do (and we should all be life-long learners). As I experience life, with all of its many ups and downs and sideways, live my faith out in all of its messiness and sometimes contradictions, and gain deeper perception by learning about different perspectives and experiences than mine own, I am going to have to adjust my thinking to be more in line with what I come to know. I'm reminded of Isaiah 55 where God reminds us that His thoughts are not our thoughts." However, earlier in the verse, He tells us to seek Him.  To me this means that it is in the process of seeking that we can see some of His ideas but it's an ongoing process.  

So, the answer I am leaning into when asked this question is to say I needed time and space to think and I wanted to see family and friends along the way.

However, what God had planned for me in this trip is a whole 'nother thing!  More on that later.