I started
traveling more in the early 1990s. For my twenty-fifth birthday, my dad bought
me a set of heavy canvas Land's End luggage in manly hunter green. My initials,
JSS, were embroidered on both pieces. He gave me a tri-fold
garment bag and a matching weekender duffel.
Those bags saw a shit ton of miles.
They made countless trips to New Orleans.
They went to New York, Boston, San Francisco, Miami, Vegas and even London.
They were thrown into the trunk for quick weekend trips across the Midwest.
They saw overhead bins, baggage compartments, tailgates and hotel closets all
over the country.
A few weeks ago, I dropped them off at
Goodwill. I took one last look as they sat in the collection bin. They screamed
1991 as I left them there all alone.
I hope another JSS stumbles upon them someday.
Maybe they will finally make it to Glasgow, Paris, Rome or Jerusalem. They
still have a few good trips left in them, but I don't need them anymore.
I have been well grounded for the last twenty
years or so, and the truth is, I like being grounded. I don't need another
passport stamp or a new set of luggage these days.
In today’s quote, Hemingway wasn't
really talking about travel anyway.
He was saying that a change of scenery
doesn't create a change of character. You can move to another city, take a
different job, start a new relationship or buy a different house…
… but wherever you go, your habits, fears,
regrets and strengths come along for the ride.
Life changes us whether we want it to or
not. We adapt, we mature, we gain wisdom, but I have never believed the answer
was somewhere else.
My mom moved us across Chicagoland and then
down to Indianapolis in the span of five years. It didn't improve her life, and
it made mine complicated. Watching that taught me you can't outrun your
troubles. I have spent my entire adult life within a ten-mile radius in
Chicago's western suburbs.
Once I found the trading floor at the
Chicago Board of Trade, I never had to search for another career to make my
life better. I was fortunate enough to work in one of those magical, romantic
places that novels are written about. Every morning I walked into a world most
people only knew from Rolling Stone magazine, newspaper stories or the movie Wall Street.
It was loud, chaotic, competitive and
unlike anything else. I never felt the need to chase a different career hoping
life would improve.
I remember an old girlfriend telling me when
we broke up that people don't change and that I never would. Looking back, she
was partly right. I didn't change, but I grew.
And there is a difference.
The beliefs my parents gave me are still my
beliefs. My faith is still my faith. My sense of right and wrong hasn't
changed. What has changed is the depth behind them. Experience, mistakes, good
days, heartbreak, raising children, losing people along the way and simply
getting older have sharpened those convictions into something much stronger
than they were when I was twenty-five.
You can't get away from who you are, but if
you are paying attention, you can spend a lifetime becoming a better version of
the person you have always been.
Oh, shit Chalkheads! Tonight’s sunset is
closer to eight o’clock than it is to eight thirty. Get ready to start tripping
over a longer shadow.
… and when it comes to adventure. Who needs
to run with the bulls when you can simply drive Lower Wacker Drive.
