Hopes & Fears

The skiing in Val d'Isere was without the doubt the best that we had ever encountered: An excellent covering of powder white snow, well groomed pistes, fantastic weather and a complete lack of people on the slopes to share that fantastic experience with!

After the intensity of Christmas, the New Year festivities, finishing our jobs and getting ready for our adventure, it felt really good to finally relax and to start to enjoy our gap year experience. The solitude of the mountains, the fresh air and the intoxicating effect of the local toffee vodka gave Karen and I time to reflect on our emotions for the journey which we were about to embark on.

We chatted enthusiastically about our forthcoming travels: “What will Mongolia really be like?”, Karen questioned, “I just don't know what to expect”. She continued, “The cold of Siberia, the warmth of Thailand. The scenery of Vietnam, the people of Cambodia, the food in China. This really will be an amazing adventure.” But amongst the hopes we also had our apprehensions. How would we get on with Russian bureaucracy? Would we mange the biting cold of a Mongolian winter? What about the language difficulties? Was our budget sufficient for the duration? Only time would tell.

Time out on the slopes also re-energised the gremlins in my mind: Were we doing the right thing? Would I be able to get a job on my return, as the UK economy appeared to be going into meltdown? Would the cats be OK? What about our friends and relatives? My mechanism for coping with these negatives thoughts however was to hum the tune of a Lee-ann Womack song as I skied down the isolated pistes. We had been introduced to the music of Womack whilst in the United States for our wedding back in the year 2000. From then on we were both hooked with her music and had accumulated a number of her albums across the years. The inspirational song “I Hope You Dance”, contained the lyrics that described what Karen and I wanted to do with the rest of our lives, and it was those words that helped me right now:

I hope you never fear those mountains in the distance
Never settle for the path of least resistance
Living might mean taking chances, but they're worth taking
Lovin' might be a mistake, but it's worth making

And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance - I hope you dance

This year, Karen and I would dance.