Leaving the Shire

This is the last post you're going to read from me for quite a while.  Tomorrow is the day of departure.  I'm going to see Michele off to work, put the kids on the bus and then I'm going to go out the door of my comfortable little house in the woods and spend over 40 days wandering.  Everything in the next 24 hours is going to be emotionally charged to say the least, because it's all about lasts, last meal together with the family, last night in my own bed, last time cajoling my grumpy children out of bed, last time goofing around with them as they wait for the bus.
Then the steps begin. Home to New Jersey, Parents house to Philadelphia International Airport, Philly to Barajas Airport in Madrid, the metro to Atocha station, Atocha to Pamplona, a bus from Pamplona to Saint Jean Pied a Port in France, then things slow down to walking pace.
It has occurred to me several times that one of the hardest things I'm going to have to do is to pull the front door of my house shut behind me, to leave all that is familiar and comfortable and just walk away.  Once I do that, the journey takes on a life of its own, once that step is taken all the other ones are necessary in order to complete the journey.
I have to admit that I have always been a bit of a homebody.  There were times, even when I was young, that I would not do things because I would just rather stay home.  Some of these things would have been fun or adventurous, but home was safe and comfortable.  That's why I think I enjoyed Tolkien's stories about Hobbits so very much, because I understood and valued the life they were trying to save.  To this day, the idea of a comfortable little home with a garden and pub down the way sounds much more attractive than any grand estate.  It's always been a sort of disappointment to me that the simple life of an agrarian village just isn't really feasible in the modern world, unless you're Amish.
Once you see and experience the world of iphones and automobiles it's hard to go back, in fact, going back seems like a hardship more than an adventure.  That's why I think pilgrimage is making a comeback in the 21st century, not because people are going seeking salvation, but because they need some sort of grand vision to pull them out of their comfortable little Hobbit holes.  I know I do.  I know I wouldn't feel at all the same if I suddenly had to walk 15 miles a day just to get to and from work, but because it's an official adventure, I'll do it.
So here I go, on a big adventure.  Away from home, away from safety and security, away from careful plans.
Just away.