“Do you know where you’re going?” (Do you like the things life shows you?) by Diana Ross was the graduation theme for my Springfield High School class of ’78 (Holland, Ohio).

It reminds me of those sayings like “If you don’t know where you’re going, you don’t need a map to get there” and “Man can’t discover new worlds until he’s ready to lose sight of the shore” – or something like that. I have the quotes around here somewhere.

I really like “Courage is not the absence of fear but the mastery of it”, especially when you’re hitchhiking across Europe or South Africa or launching a new expedition.

It’s late and I’m tired but I wanted to start this new blog – Life is a Trek – since I woke up from a dream this morning thinking about this idea. When I was traversing my heritage through travel and adventure (I never regret a moment as it gives me invaluable memories and topics to share as a writer), I used to send “colorful” letters and cards to family and friends who now serve. I eat a nervous diary, like looking at old things.

Most of what I will use to post here was sent to my friend Steve Gwinn in Toledo, Ohio, who is now dead, but kept all my letters and cards that I found in his closet. Reading them was bittersweet.

The last time I saw Steve was when he and another friend dropped me off at Detroit International Airport to leave for Israel again in 1995. I gave him a hug and kiss goodbye, having no idea it would be the last. But life is a journey, and all journeys must come to an end… or at least pause.