I run because I love to travel...

I've never seen the Great Barrier Reef. Thailand sounds like my kind of place, but I have never been there. I took a combined three years of Japanese in high school and college, but have never set foot in Japan.

I have been to Turkey. I have been to Hawaii. I have been to Mexico. I have been to Canada.

Most people don't even count Hawaii, Canada, or Mexico. Viewed through this lens, I've only really been to Turkey.

My travel list likely won't impress most. But, I actually consider myself very well traveled.

I've seen natural beauty so incredible that it's impossible to avert your gaze. I've looked down onto huge banks of fog rolling indomitably beneath me from thousands of feet above. I've been hypnotized by sunsets that defy description.

I have seen the ferocity and power of mother nature. My face has been pelted relentlessly by hail. I've seen the wind howl loudly enough to bend trees. I've been brought to the brink by oppressive heat and humidity.

I've encountered countless creatures in their homes far removed from any zoo. I've seen them look at me as though I was perhaps the oddest thing they had ever seen. Snakes, salamanders, deer, skunks, racoons, coyotes, and turkey are but a few I've been fortunate enough to see.

During most of my travels, I've also been very fortunate to explore parts of myself that might otherwise simply go unexamined. I've come to know that my body can endure just about anything....if given time to adapt. I've learned just how far mental toughness can take you when the body starts to complain.

There are parts of myself I never would have learned about had I not gone traveling. New perspectives, new ideas, new dreams, and new hope is part of what I've always found when I travel.

No, I haven't been to Morocco. Sadly, I have not been to London either. Japan is on my list as well.

But, I really can't complain. There's little question in my mind about how many miles I've logged and how many places I have seen that many will NEVER have the opportunity to see.

As far as traveling goes, I've been blessed as I have the opportunity to it every day if I want to....and I usually do. I run because I love to travel.