Then I moved here. When I first moved here, I had a job up in Cleveland, which is 45 minutes away. I didn't bat an eye at driving to my parents' house, which is 40 minutes away. Then I got a job in a town 20 minutes away. Still, it was close, not a problem. I remember when Husband and I took our first trip to Chicago from here and it was only 8 hours away. We thought we could make that trip a couple times a year. As the years have passed, my world has gotten smaller and closer to home. We joke how a town that's 9 miles away, we have to make a day trip plan to go there. Right now, my town is torn up with construction. The main road, both North and South of the Square, is aI remember when Husband and I took our first trip to Chicago from here and it was only 8 hours away. We thought we could make that trip a couple times a year. I remember driving through the night to watch the sunrise over Niagara Falls since it was only 4 1/2 hours away. n obstacle course. This has made me realize how much smaller my world has become. Two years ago, they built a DrugMart on our side of town. It takes 2-3 minutes to get there, depending on lights. We run there for most things. So, the other day, when I forgot an ingredient for dinner and it was something I couldn't buy at DrugMart, I had to go to the big grocery store. I was so frustrated that I had to drive all the way to the grocery store...a whole 6-7 minutes away. This is when I realized that my world had gotten way too small.
Husband and I used to explore. We'd take the entire day and just drive around, not necessarily having a destination in mind. Now, a trip to Costco has to be something that is planned out weeks in advance since it's all of 20 minutes away. I see it with my kids, too. They start to get antsy if we're in the car for over 10 minutes. They've taken to reading books on a 4 minute drive because they feel it's "so far".
I always thought that the older I got, the more the world would open up to me. I used to think of all of the places I could travel. Now, the thought of heading to the North side of town stresses me out. It's time to stop that thinking. It's time to open up my world again. And my children's. Last summer, I ventured to some "far away" places by myself with the kids. This summer, I'm going to try to go to more places that aren't in my immediate area. I'm going to try to install the love for adventure that I used to have in my kids. After all, summer is when we have time. Time for lazy days. Time to go to far off places.