It was meant to be a surprise, but since she is the one I love sharing with the most, it only stayed a surprise for a week at most. That was all I could stand before I let the secret out. A weekend away----hiking, nature, peaceful enjoyment.
Catching the sub to Grand Central, we ate a quick breakfast in the city before we headed north to Cold Spring on the 9:45 train. A new experience as well, our first time on the Metro North felt more like a 1950s adventure. It was a beautiful start to a perfect weekend.
The rain came down as we headed north, and I began to doubt my choice of weekend for a hiking adventure, but soon after we arrived and checked in early to our B&B (another first time experience for both of us) the sun popped out and off we headed towards the Washburn Trail in the Hudson Highlands. After 13 miles, 6 hours, and a most spectacular view from Mt. Taurus, we found ourselves back at the B&B for a quick shower followed by a relaxing dinner at a local restaurant. As we soaked up the atmosphere on Main Street from the outside patio, we recounted the amazing sights and wonders of the day, and we were both aware of how much we love our simple life and journey together.
This weekend was planned with a simple concept in mind: never become so busy that we fail to experience life along the way. On the way to work a few months ago, I realized we'd lived here well over a year, and since our move in 2013 we'd talked about going hiking north of the city. It struck me then. I do not ever want to get to the point in our lives where we are living for someday.
This mindset goes hand-in-hand with our fervent attempt to minimalize our lives. I recently read that the mini-storage industry in the US is a $22 million dollar industry. Think about that. We have larger houses, but we rent storage units to keep all of the crap that won't fit. In general, our lives are bigger and fuller than ever before, but are we happier? More fulfilled? I wonder.
I never want to lose sight of this. Yes, we plan and save for future aspirations, but I do not intend to have our life consist of a list of wishes we never experienced because we was too busy, too in debt, too scared, too [fill in the blank]. Our someday is today, and our lives should be filled with experiences not stuff. Let's live our lives in a way that adds to the collective contentment of our society.
