First Post - Molting

Hello,

I just finished packing up most of my life and it only took me an hour. I think that this is metaphorical to the way that I feel now, before this trip. I feel that there are only a few things that are tying me to the routines of my life - my friends and family, my dog, and my love of Lawrence. The rest of the things that have until recently defined me are still a part of my life, but are no longer hold the same weight. Like an animal that is molting, I feel that I am going to go through a time of shedding my dead skin, fur, or feathers. This is different from the metaphor of the butterfly. Butterflies are completely different than caterpillars. A snake that molts looks and acts almost identical to the snake it was before.

Maybe that is just a wish, though, for this trip. I have been using the phrase,  "hitting the reset button" to describe my trip, and I have been talking about how I have to be willing to accept however I change. But another part of me thinks that things are fine status quo. This may become a tension that I need to work through.

This weekend before I go is going to represent some of the aspects of my trip. Tonight and tomorrow night, I am going to Banff Mountain Film Festival. This amazing film festival shows films about the outdoors and adventure sports. I am hoping to experience a bit of these things as well on my trip.
Tomorrow day, I am going to Brewfest. This is part of the Lawrence Brewers Guild and will be a full on Beer experience.

I will try and blog about both these experiences.
I will also try and reflect in the near future about how I got into this trip. For now, imagine you are in a mystery movie - you'll find out the back story later.

Your assignment: I am going to say "trip" at least a million times unless you readers give me creative alternatives ie. synonyms. I like the word, but it is good to use varied word choice in essays. So, if you reply, do so with a synonym of "trip" that will be useful for my blog.