I’ve decided to forego the next two of my wife’s business trips and stay home with the dogs. I need a break from travel having already covered over 36,000 miles this year; one and a half times around the world. As I continue to monitor the 1000 Places to See Before I Die calendar on my desk, I’m humbled by the number of locations that I never even thought of visiting. Over the last 30 days, there have been only a few of these destinations that I’ve visited, and many that I have little desire to add to my bucket list. I at least made a brief stop in Japan at the airport on our way to Thailand, have passed through Macau on the route from Hong Kong to mainland China, stopped in Lexington, Kentucky for business, journeyed  through the Duomo of Florence, Italy, spent a night in Cannes, and explored the El Yunque National Park in Puerto Rico. We also have plans to visit Butchart Gardens in Vancouver and reserved space on a Viking River Cruise of Egypt. I’ve yet to be to Norway, Estonia, Costa Rica, Budapest, India, Marquesas Islands, Palau, Brazil, Argentina, University of Cambridge, Morocco, Maidstone, or Ireland. I’m not sure that there will be time in this lifetime to see all these fabulous sights. Hopefully, there are other lives to come, even though I don’t remember any from the past. 

My goal is to not leave the area again until Vancouver, B.C. over the 4th of July holiday and will then consider going with my wife on Chicago and New York business ventures later this year if we can secure a dog sitter. Steamboat is planned for my August 68th birthday getaway. With the loss of my wife’s 97-year old mother, we are no longer confined to four trips a year back to Indiana and can even think about staying home for Christmas. Neither my wife or I have had that pleasure since we met. I do need to see my grandkids in Florida or make plans to bring them here to Portland. We also have a daughter’s wedding in San Francisco to celebrate and another daughter’s union here in convenient Portland. I just made arrangements to send the newlyweds on a Maui honeymoon, and my son’s family will spend a long weekend at a resort near Disneyworld on us. It’s rewarding when you can treat other loved ones to a brief sample of the retirement life.

Today is a laundry day in my busy world of retirement. I will naturally continue to stay on top of my favorite cable obsessions like Ballers, Chernobyl, Fosse/Verdon, Deadwood, and Curse of Civil War Gold. Game of Thrones is now a thing of the past. A Leadership Meeting is planned for Friday and Movie Night will return as part of my wife’s much needed weekend. I also have a Happy Hour scheduled with a former boss and client next week, and a baseball card collector’s breakfast.

On the sports front, the Cubs walked-off a victory against the Nats last night just as I served my wife a delicious pork chop dinner. The Raptors tied their series against the Bucks in the battle to face the Warriors. I had to witness the Golden State comeback to sweep my Trailblazers at the Moda Center earlier this week. BIG 10 baseball starts today with hopes of an Indiana championship and maybe a trip to the College World Series. Been there…done that. 

As you can see, there’s a lot going on in the wide world of Mike. There will be no trip back to Elkhart, Indiana  for my 50th High School reunion. I was hoping to combine that with my mother-in-law’s 98th. Sadly, not to be! My wife and I will continue to discuss alternative travel plans as her work schedule for the rest of the year begins to unfold. In the meantime, my wife is looking forward to a three-day weekend, as she continues to heal from the loss of her mother.