Plan 'B'

If I were to forgo this whole ordained ministry gig I would be a travel agent or a tour manager. I know, I know you probably thought I'd tap into my more obvious skill sets; piano playing, childcare, quantum physics...but there is little else that I find as relaxing as piecing together the pieces of the puzzle of a travel plan. Calculating fuel costs, reserving camp sites, menu planning, coordinating with other travel-mates... I love it all!

The reason behind my love for travel planning is probably fairly obvious. Life is filled with unknowns and problems which cannot be solved in an hour or a day, and in the face of those pressures I bury my head in the sand and turn instead to logistical problems I can solve with a few web searches and emails. In life we rarely know what the next chapter will bring, where it will take us or how long it will last. With google maps and my trusty atlas, I can answer all these travel question very easily. Yes, in travel planning all my control issues can be satisfied! Imagine how happily distracted I've been since finding out we're moving west in 6 short weeks and in the middle of that we'll jet over to the east coast for a family reunion! Details and planning abounds!

The Princess and the Pastor definitely do not have an extravagant amount of travel funds, yet this has remained a priority for us. Seeing our loved one, visiting sites unseen, learning to be resourceful, working as a team, having adventures – so we get our butts in the car, train, plane, ferry and GO! This is not an exhaustive list, but some of the great places we've gone since we were placed in the world together...

St. Louis, MO (from Fargo by train with a 2-year old for a wedding)

Tacoma, WA (twice by plane, too many great people to list!)

Louisville, KY (twice by car, yay Uncle Matthew and Aunt Anna)
Longmont, CO (by plane, yay Sarah and Sarah)

Holden Village/Levenworth, WA (by train with a 4-year old and we'll be back in June)

many, many road trips to East Grand Forks, MN (yay Grandma and Grandpa Stennes)

Fargo, ND (yay Uncle Daniel, Auntie Katie, Isaiah and Lily)

Green Bay (my college roomie and the Princess' dear friend, Julia)

Lake Crystal, Bemidji, Marshall and the list goes on...

You are perhaps wondering, how does the Princess do with all these travels? 90% of the time she is fantastic, she easily entertains herself in the backseat and on the ferry or plane she stays quiet and is polite to other travelers. The train and the Princess do not seem to be the best fit – although, in her defense, both train trips were over 20 hours long! 

If the Pastor and the Princess ever need a plan 'B' I think one of us would make an excellent travel agent and the other would be a very entertaining tour guide!

“The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only one page.”
                                    St. Augustine

the Princess and her best travel smile!