Kicking Off My Tour

Awhile back I posted about my intent to hit the road as soon as it became clear that my pet cancer had reached the point where my survival was questionable. I'm rethinking that timeline. More specifically, the hospice flyer I read while waiting for my last oncology appointment makes me think it's unlikely I'll be falling over dead standing atop Machu Picchu or staring at the Mona Lisa. Cancer doesn't come out of nowhere to kill you; first it incapacitates you. So if I wait 'til the end to get on the road, I may not actually make it out my front door. 

More important, I've realized there are too many places to see. If I save them all for the end I won't see them all.

So I'm kicking off my tour a bit early. A week from Saturday, actually. 

I'm calling it "John's Goodbye Cruel World Tour" (and, yes, I do believe there will be T-shirts). 

The first leg will be the West Coast of the (continental) United States. So if you live anywhere between Seattle and Tijuana, will be in or around your neighborhood between December 20 and January 3, and would like me to stop by to say hi, shoot me an email (j m streck "at" gmail -- lose all the spaces and format per usual conventions). And some of you, who have both emails and West Coast locations that I know about, may hear from me directly.

It is somewhat ironic to plan a farewell tour so you can see all the things you didn't have time to see previously, but then spend the first leg of it going to places you've been numerous times before. But a) I'm driving the Roadster which, provided it's not raining, is always a joyous experience, b) I'm planning to make up for it with the second leg of the tour, which I hope to be Vietnam, and c) Sib4 chose San Diego as a replacement for the twenty-somethingth repeat of family Christmas in Seattle, so I'm just hijacking a previously planned family holiday for my own purposes (sorry family!).

And for the record, I did some research. Apparently, Cher's farewell tour by most counts lasted for three years, but others argue continues to run (with the occasional break) since its start in 2002. So perhaps I'll luck out and be able to celebrate multiple anniversaries of my Goodbye Cruel World Tour. 

But regardless, the sooner I start the more places I can go.