The Wanderlust Gene

Not only is my dad riding his bike
across the country, he's making
pancakes for the first time for his
fellow bicyclists!

Two weeks ago I mailed a letter to my dad. In this letter I wished him a safe and joyful journey across America because he is riding his bike across the country (I will add, for the second time). The bicycle riding was just part of my letter, the other part was acknowledging the wanderlust gene I inherited from him. This wanderlust gene is a Blalock gene, and pops up in some of my cousins, and at times in me. I believe it is mostly attributed to my grandfather, although it may go further back on the Blalock side. Here, you can imagine a voice over, something of the sort, "the force is strong in you" however I have spent a lot of my adult life squelching this gene sometimes with great success, sometimes not. I squelched it because I feared it would interfere in my becoming an adult, although I'm still not sure what constitutes an adult even now as I approach the age of 38. And when I squelched it too much, I would suddenly quit my job and buy a plane ticket so I could get the hell out of dodge for a while, then eventually return, because, well, "adult."

My grandfather on my dad's side moved his large family around the south of the U.S., mostly in North Carolina. Although I never knew him, I feel a kindredness because of this shared gene. The wanderlust gene. As a young adult, I suspect this gene was more about believing in a grass is greener scenario. Now as an older adult, I believe it is more about discovery, and inquiry, and exploration.

For the next three months, my dad will be bicycling across the country. Here is our wanderlust gene in exploration mode. I feel a little closer to my dad these days and our wanderlust gene, somewhat because of my move to Michigan, but particularly because we are both participating in our own kinds of inquiry and exploration.