Two Years as a Traveling Widower

July 25th, 2026

I’m sitting in the Sacramento airport (SMF) once again, waiting to depart for my shopping trip to Denver. That’s not the real reason I’m going there – I want to visit all my friends. Colorado is still home to me. This is a no-photography trip – the only camera I’m bringing is my phone. I’m kind of burned out on lugging cameras around, and my next trip will be all about photography for two full weeks. I need a break. 

As I was checking in for my flight, I realized this was getting close to the first trip I made after Jan passed in 2024, and since then I have made 10 other flights to somewhere in the U.S. or to other parts of the world. I have also done around a dozen trips by car to State and National Parks in the West, or just to my favorite haunts along the California coast. All told, I’ve probably been on the road for 25 weeks since travel became the focus of my life, and as a friend once said, my escape from grief. Guilty as charged. 

After almost two years of solo travel, I’ve become used to living out of suitcases, staying in hotels or small cabins on ships, eating alone in hotel bars, and the hardest thing of all, being social with a bunch of strangers that I share most of my adventurous trips with. This has probably been the most significant new skill to develop for me. I had Jan to take care of that for 49 years. I still have moments where I feel like running back to my cabin on a ship, but manage to tamp that down. Take a deep breath and dive in. I have realized that most everyone on these trips is there for pretty much the same reason I’m there (photography, hiking, etc), and almost all are more than willing to sit and talk, and share stories with a strange old guy. It is nice being around people for days in a row when I’m traveling – it is still difficult being the odd-man out with mostly couples. That is one of the downsides of solo travel. But it beats sitting alone in my house for days at a time. At least I have not gotten to the point where I’m out yelling at kids to get off my lawn.

But this trip will be great since there’s no pressure to be out early for some long hike or other strenuous activity. I’m looking forward to a few dinners, and just sitting around with good friends. Even if I have to consume N/A drinks. Ugh.

And then I’ll be off to a few more adventures this year – Kodiak Island, Patagonia and the Sea of Cortez. At least I’ll have my digital friends with me on those trips. Max and Aperture do not require passports, and get to ride free. I wish they could carry my camera gear though.

This is not real, generated by Gemini. And I wish Gemini had not made Max taller than me.

Peace