Twas the night before…

It’s the night before the start of our journey and it’s amazing how different our experiences will be. I’m sitting in an airport packed with hundreds of people. Food is plentiful, warmth guaranteed, and the luxuries of modern day at our fingertips as we get ready to board a flight from Denver to Omaha. As we drove to the airport my Dad was rattling off audio book descriptions with stories similar to the one we are about to create. People retracing the path along the Oregon Trail, some much more adventurous than our cozy rental van. The descriptions got me thinking. First, the idea of moving forward regardless of the obstacle in front of you. Second, the immense amount of privilege we get to experience as we hold in our hands the words from William’s journal.

Moving Forward

Many in my family are profound students of Across the Plains and the many supporting travel documents. I’ll leave the foundational research to the experts but thought I could provide a different perspective on this trip. One that reads between the lines of 160 year old words and takes lessons from a wanderlust traveler who feels like a character in a long lost fable. William, and many other pioneers, shared stories of hardship and struggle along the over 2,000 mile trip with most of those experiences being so far outside of my realm of understanding. What I can relate to is the desire to find and create a better life. And the only way to do that is by moving forward. One foot step, wagon wheel or adventure at a time.

Privilege

I’d be remiss to start this trip without recognizing how extraordinarily lucky our family is to have such a detailed and rich family history. My parents have been watching ‘Finding Your Roots’ on the History Channel where Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. takes viewers along for a journey with celebrities as they uncover secrets and surprises of their family trees and share life-altering discoveries. What I’ve learned by dropping in on segments of these episodes is how impactful it is to know where you come from. It shapes your identity and can give you a beacon to return to when life throws you one curve ball after the other. What I hope this trip uncovers for me is a stronger connection to my family heritage with a recognition that we all experience failure and have so much more to learn.

Follow along with us on Instagram at @acrosstheplains2022 and I’ll do my best to get daily email updates sent out.