Ana and I left on Aug. 31st to set out on a grand adventure for the month of September. We started walking on Sept. 1st on the Via Regia/Jakobsweg/Ecumenical path aka the German Camino.

Our plan was to walk for two weeks, close to 300 km through a large portion of East Germany. We started off well and the first days were glorious on the Camino. We felt good and strong. We were ready to walk and walk.

After 5 days, and close to 120 km, we had some realizations. Big ones about our bodies, about how much asphalt we were walking on and the conditions and what we really wanted from this month. I will write more in the future about these decisions but on day 5 we chose a big pivot. It was the right decision even if hard. We made the call at the end of day 5 to return home for a couple of days and re route our month. It was hard to walk away but soooo sweet to walk into our apartment and see our pups and regroup. It felt good and right.

Two days later we were on a train to Vienna, an eight hour train ride. We cancelled our German reservations but have kept our reservations in and around Salzburg starting September 16. We thought…well, then lets make our way across Austria so if Covid spikes we can get home easily and so far Germany and Austria are safe for us. I have dreamed of going to Vienna so we booked four days there, four days of hiking along the Danube and then to Salzburg for a couple of days and ending up in a village in the Austrian Alps at the end.

There is so much I am learning for this journey as well and am processing. Austria has been like a breath of fresh air and while we aren’t walking all day every day there is space and newness and art and cake and walking too. It is the right thing for us now and if we hadn’t been open to pivoting we would have missed it and probably been grumpy at the world and at each other. We are both stubborn enough that that was almost a possibility but thank goodness we have matured to a different space of recognizing the need to pivot.

This season is a grand season of pivoting. All of our plans are constantly changing. Disappointment is mixed with joy as our days continue to change in ways we could never imagine. I saw a meme the other day that said, “I wish we were back to living in precedented times.” And I know we all feel that to some extent. I know I feel this as the West Coast is on fire and I can only watch from afar as my beloved state goes up in flames and I am constantly worried and anxious for friends and family. I talked to my nieces and nephews last night and I wondered what the world will look like for them and at the same time I could show them the old city walls outside our window, built in the 14th century, the walls that last through plague and fire and war and know the world will pivot into something different for them. My niece exclaimed she can’t wait until I am “real home” near her so we can explore together. I can’t wait either and I know that world will be full of pivots that open our eyes to so much more.

More to come but just to check in with you reader, the season of pivot is upon us. Each day is different. How will we pivot with it?