Travelling Patterns

As I was running errands the other day I was thinking about my travelling patterns these days. For the most part I travel the same roads daily not with much variation. Of course this has to do with where I live now at this stage of my life. The grocery store is half a mile away, the church less than a quarter mile, my gym a mile away, and for the most part the furthest I travel is to work and my mom's house. I do travel once in a while to say St. George or other places to see family members but my travel is limited.

When I was young my travel pattern mostly consisted of my home, the neighbors homes, school, and church. I lived in a "circle" of homes and loved the neighborhood I grew up in. Our "circle" was perfect for playing kick ball and baseball as the homes formed a perfect baseball diamond playing field. Summers was spent travelling to many different softball fields in the state for tournaments. One thing that was a constant travel was from my childhood home in AF to the gas station "Walker" in PG to clean the carwash. That was an extra family job of my family that we did daily.

As a senior in high school my travel patterns changed when my family moved to Lehi. The roads changed and the neighbors changed. The distant to school changed and to church. See we lived out in the middle of now where so to school and church took a longer time to get to. It took longer to get to the grocery store, the gas station, and just to town. My friends thought it was a long drive to get to my home. My travel took my from my home to high school, to the ball field, to work as a janitor at a Junior High to home this almost daily. I was comfortable with my travel pattern and knew it well. It was predictable and safe.

Then my days as a young single adult the travelling got me out of my comfort zone and into unpredictable patterns. From new friends to new places. From college in Logan to Jackson Hole,WY to Park City, on a mission to Missouri and then back to Provo. Gaining new experiences, new lasting friendships, heartache, loneliness, happiness, and freedom.

My travel patterns now lead me to place to help support and care for my kids and husband. To the store to fix meals, to church to feel the spirit and find hope, to the doctor's office, to the neighbors for some adult converstation and play time for kids, and to the gym to help me stay sane and give me the energy I need to keep up!

Someday my travel patterns will change. The area I cover may get larger and the roads different. But that is life. All things change and so will the travel patterns.