The Need for a Destination

Darrell and I picked Mount Hood. Why? I honestly can't say that there was any reason other than we'd never been there before. And it was a mountain. And it was far away. And why not? That may sound trite, but it's as good a reason as any. The end goal gave weight to our trip. It made us start planning the journey. 

In the open road analogy of life, destinations can be far more like spark plugs than the end of the road. A good destination gets you excited and gets you moving. It makes everything a little more real. Where have you never been before that you've always wanted to go? What have you never done? These are great starter questions. Write down a few of the answers, then pick one and start planning. Forgive me for sounding Zen, but the journey is more important than the end. You don't learn anything at the end if you didn't learn anything along the way. 

Had Darrell and I not made it to Mount Hood we would've been disappointed and I'd like to think we'd have kept trying until we got there. But had our trip ended without us reaching that goal, would it have been a waste? No. Not in the least. By the time we made it within sight of that snowy peak we'd spent nearly a month hitching rides, camping on cabin porches, losing sleep in IHOPs, meeting strangers, spelunking, cliff-diving, and having (and filming) the trip of our lives. Getting to our destination felt great, but the journey made it worth it.

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