After facilitating a three-day program in Olympia, Washington, Carrie asked me “how do you recharge?” I thought and said, “I sleep a lot, and I’m boarding a plane to go to Scotland on a 100-mile walk in a few hours.” Sleep, hike, travel; I think that’s my perfect trifecta.

Erin and I had shared a nanny for two years when our babies were young. Our kids thought they were siblings. We’ve kayaked in Mexico, camped in countless places, and hiked across all of Italy together. We are tight.

On our current adventure, my travel to Edinburgh , Scotland took 13 hours and hers took 29 hours.  As I waited expectantly but not wanting to waste time, I found a Scottish grocery and bought the smallest box of tea I could find.  70 tea bags, for the smallest!  We were in the land of tea drinking and I thought that would be a cozy addition to our exciting trip.  I presented this oversized box of decaffeinated tea to her, as we both avoid caffeine for completely different reasons, and I thought this thoughtful gesture would be met with delight. This is when I learned that she doesn’t like tea, at all.  Any of it, just all of it entirely. She only drinks it as a tactic to overcome being sick. You think you know a person.

And what’s more is that each afternoon, we finish our 13 or so miles and, take off our day packs and put our feet up. We relax and decompress and enjoy our trip. Her go-to activity of choice; watching football highlights, all the while yelling and cheering at a little screen. The names of football players I’ve never heard of pop out of her mouth with ease. With all these years together, I never knew.

Best,

Julie