The Dynasty

When I'm traveling, I tend to miss little things. Like, having a car. (Particularly MY car. Driving on the right side is nice, too.) Mex food. The stars being in their familiar places. In Hawaii, the stars were super bright. Going from a 21 hour time change to a 3 hour change in the span of 2 days left me cruising around all hours of the night on the Big Island. I'm sun burnt. But recognizing the stars is something that makes me feel comfortable. In Oz and NZ, the stars are in weird positions to me. It's disorienting. Waking in the night and seeing how far the stars have shifted is like my own personal timer; just a little something I learned from living in a van for 8 months on Kauai. My cousin's wedding went well. Now the family's heat is on me to follow suit and push out some ninos. Realistically, that's not gonna happen any time too soon. It may sound like common sense to some, but I think I've finally come to accept that travel reduces the chance of meaningful relationships. For example, 1st dates aren't a problem. It's just that when it's time for the 2nd, I'm already 1000 miles away. Another issue is that when travelers know they're on a time limit, they make super hasty decisions. It's like a relationship in fast forward. Anyway, with Jason's wife, Tobie, the family tally is now at 44, soon to be 45 with the birth of Nicolas, the 19th cousin. My brother joked that we don't have a family, we have a dynasty. Restaurants get so bummed when we rock up for a meal.