‘North to the Future’ is the nickname given to Alaska in 1967 by Richard Peter. It is meant to signify Alaska as a land of promise. With a country so divided it is difficult sometimes for me to see the promising future depicted in that motto. Racism is rampant.  Global warming is accelerating faster than predicted.  The country’s debt is on the rise.  Unsustainable lifestyles… I can go on and on…

I continually ask myself what does it all mean?  Can we as a society find compromise or will we continue to spiral deeper into chaos?

Unsurprisingly I don’t have any of the answers.  I’m going to search for some by heading ‘North to the Future’.  Perhaps an outdoor adventure will allow me to clear my head and regain some faith in our society.  Maybe the land of promise can shed some light and show me the way to a better future. A bright and positive future filled with hope and compassion.

In all honesty I began thinking about this trip a few years back and actually intended to first do it last year. However, with Swati’s father passing, Selling our charming home, buying a wonderful new house (across the street) and work commitments it just wasn’t in the cards. So, I postponed it to this year with a tentative August 1st start date. Unfortunately, with looming work deadlines I was apprehensive about actually penciling the trip into the calendar. I kept telling myself that if I didn’t do it this year that it would likely never happen. So, a calendar entry of August 17th was born. Sadly, due to my wavering on the schedule, my wonderful wife is unable to join me as she has her own commitments. She waited for as long as she could for me to make up my mind but eventually she had to plan her August. I feel awful about the situation but Swati, being so understanding, assured me it was okay and that I needed to do this.

Shonu, I love you more and more with each passing year. You and Kona will be always on my mind and in my heart.

Adventure awaits…