Ever since my wife and I were married, we’ve tried to take at least one major vacation a year and numerous small weekend or even day trips. The limiting factor, of course, was having children who had their own activities as well as our responsibilities to work. Now that the kids are grown and out of the house (mostly), Sherry and I have been able to take our first major trip in two years.

In the past, our trips would involve maybe one or two activities a day. This was to account for my lack of being able to physically do more. It was hard for me to go from place to place, especially if it involved a lot of walking. Sherry would find herself alone in the mornings while I rested/healed from the previous day until I awoke. I would slowly get going, and we would begin our day. After the two and sometimes three activities for the day, we would settle back down and begin the rest and recuperation for the next day. If the activities were especially strenuous, we would space them out to allow me time to rest between them. This meant that our trips, while fun, were not as packed in with adventures as we would have otherwise liked.

That is all changed now. 

On this trip, on the first day, I literally ran from place to place. I was so excited to be able to walk without pain and without being winded that I would run across streets, run to and up stairs, run from shop to shop, etc. Sherry was laughing as she ran behind me; it was a whole new experience for her. I felt like a kid. When I say I feel young again, this is the stuff I’m talking about. To be able to do whatever I want without having my body say, “Nope. You’re too heavy to move this way.”

Not only were we able to walk in the city, but we actually were able to get in quite a bit of actual hiking. And when I say hiking, I mean the kind where you actually walk off-pavement and on trails, up and down hills, and sometimes even on huge rocks and boulders. It was something I haven’t done since I was a Marine, and I really had a lot of fun doing so. I remembered the many walks I would take with my grandparents in wooded areas, and at the last waterfall we visited, I actually felt my grandmother with me. I know she would have loved the scenes we were viewing.

This trip was our huge reward for all the work we did in getting to this point in our healthy lives. It was also our 13th anniversary, and I can’t think of a better way for us to have celebrated our marriage and our new lifestyle. I can’t wait for our next adventure now. I know my body is up for it.