The Modern Elder Academy (or, What I’ve Learned from Oliver the Three Legged Dog)

It’s been awhile, traveling friends. Like most people, I haven’t traveled for a year, which just seems like the craziest thing to write. I would have NEVER thought I’d not travel for a whole entire year. And yet here we are.

Once my parents were fully vaccinated, I went to SC for a visit – that was about a month ago. I was surprised at how anxious I was traveling – understandable given the circumstances, but a foreign feeling for me. Double masked and feeling like I had to be on guard at every moment, it was the opposite of everything I love about travel.

But now (half vaccinated – I’ve had the first dose of the Pfizer vaccine), I find myself in Mexico. I’m at the Modern Elder Academy in Baja taking part in one of their “Sabbatical Sessions” for two weeks. All our meals, discussion sessions, etc, are outside and Covid-safe, plus nearly everyone here is vaccinated, so it lends a level of comfort and relaxation that we haven’t felt in a year. I’ve been taking long walks on the beach and reading and writing and making the acquaintance of the most interesting group of people.

One Canadian has been working remotely here since February. There are several Brits who escaped the lockdown there and have been staying either here on campus or nearby most of the winter. Two fascinating women have been digital nomads for months – working and traveling and staying in hotels and Airbnbs around the United States, all their belongings in storage. One of them, when asked where she was from, replied, “Well, my stuff is in the Bay Area”. I loved that answer and it got me thinking about the boxes we put ourselves in, the hills we think are hard to climb.

The folks I’ve met here are for sure free spirits, braver and bolder than most – but why not be those things? Why not live someplace else for awhile and break out of our routine? What’s the worst that could happen? We don’t love it, so we go back to where we were? Not so bad. Why do we make things harder than they really are? So much is remote now anyway, why not take advantage of it?

There is a road behind the campus that goes up several HUGE hills, one pictured above. I set out running the second day I was here, and to run from campus to an overlook point and back is only about two miles, but it’s an intense two miles. The first day I thought my lungs might explode trying to make it to the top, even walking about half of it. Now, a week in, I can run a little more and it’s getting easier and easier. Enter Oliver the three-legged dog.

Oliver is owned by a family nearby but spends most of his time on the MEA campus, getting attention and snacks from the folks here, most of whom are missing their dogs at home and are delighted to heap affection on him. He’s smaller than the rest of the pack of beach dogs he runs around with, but he make up for it in spirit.

I set out on that hilly run with a friend here a few days ago and Oliver decided to tag along. We were worried about him in the heat, but damn if he didn’t run the whole way, laying down and panting in our shadows at the top. On the way back down, he sought out every shady spot available to rest, and then promptly jumped in the pool when we got back. Which I’m fairly certain he knows he’s not supposed to do, but he’s so adorable no one cares.

Perseverance. Rest. Reward. Not hard concepts. Oliver reminded me that basically life boils down to those few things, and the little guy has them all down. Why do humans struggle so to find that balance?

I think we often focus on one thing and forget the others. Mainly, we work and work and persevere and we forget to rest.

Or we forget to be grateful. Or forget to celebrate.

Or we DO remember to rest and be grateful and celebrate but then we get complacent and forget to think about what else is out there, about how we can better serve, better make a difference in the world. Be better neighbors and friends and parents and citizens.

It’s been a tough year, friends. We’ve persevered. Time to rest, to jump in the pool, celebrate that we are almost past this, and then start thinking about what’s next. Everybody get vaccinated if you can. Let’s create a safer world where we can get more connected and start cultivating a new boldness. Let’s go on some adventures.

Start asking why not? Who says?

If Oliver the three legged dog can climb that hill and rest in the shade and jump in the pool and love every minute of all of it, so can we. It’s all LIFE – the work and the rest and the celebration. All of it. Don’t leave anything out. We need it all.

Let’s go.

In love and adventure,

Traveling Girl