THE NARRATIVE ARC

Embracing My Solo Adventure in Amsterdam

Given the choice, I chose joy

This photo shows my family heading out of town on their bikes. They are going touring and camping for a month. They are taking the dog, whose trailer can be seen on the third bike. Photo by Author

I haven’t told many people this, but when my daughter told me she and her partner were taking their two teenagers on bicycles and going camping for all of August, I was not thrilled to hear about it.

“What about the dog?” I asked, thinking maybe they had forgotten they had a dog, and that would make them come to their senses.

“We are taking the dog,” my daughter answered, making it very clear to me that she was not going to come to her senses any time soon, and this was going to be another grand adventure like when we went to Ireland for my 65th birthday or to Italy for my 70th.

The difference this time was they would be camping and biking across three countries for an entire month. The kids would remember this trip forever.

Another difference was that I would not be going on this trip.

Two years ago, they went camping in France for most of August. It didn’t go well for me at the time because I had just moved into an apartment in their neighborhood, and my bike broke. I had a hard time on my own, not knowing where to shop or how to get anywhere. I felt very isolated.