We are Amanda and Rich. We have a combined thirty years in education, and we love traveling, football, food, and being together. In January of 2018, we decided we wanted to spend a year traveling the world side by side. We leave for Iceland in June of 2018 and plan to see 26 countries before June of 2019.
Amanda: My dad was a country music songwriter, which seems like the least relevant and, at the same time, most relevant way I can think of to begin this story. He and my mom moved to Nashville, Tennessee in 1978 to chase his songwriting dreams, dreams that seemed crazy when he moved from Georgia and seemed impossible when he lost his eyesight three years later due to complications from Type I diabetes.
And, yet, by 2001, my dad had written eleven number one country songs and had a whole lot of fun doing it. There are many things in my life I do not think I would have had the courage to do had I not grown up watching him do crazy and impossible things. This trip is one of them.
One of his songs that was most certainly not a #1 country song is a song called “See Rock City” performed by Rick Trevino. For those of you not from the Southeastern United States (the South), Rock City is an outdoor nature park of sorts, located outside of Chattanooga, Tennessee. In the 1930’s, they paid farmers to paint “See Rock City” on the sides of barns located close to highways and major roads all over the South, and for years where I’m from, you couldn’t take a road trip without stumbling upon at least one old barn or two that still displayed the logo.
Thus, the inspiration for this song:
Baby, I’m beginning to understand
We’ve been stationary objects on a spinning planet
Gettin’ set in our ways, taking time for granted
We best get gone ‘fore it’s too late
Scratch this itch for the interstate
Let’s bon voyage on a big adventure
‘Fore we’re rockin’ in our rockers and chewin’ with dentures
We’ve done lost Elvis and Conway Twitty
Don’t you think it’s time to see rock city?
Yeah, rock city, yeah, see rock city, yeah, rock city, yeah
We can stop and go to church with your sweet Aunt Ima
Have supper at the Chattanooga Choo-Choo Diner
We’ll be talkin’ ’bout this trip, when we’re 2 old timers
Got some sights to see and we’re gonna see ’em
Got a real bad case of Carpe’ Diem
Let’s bon voyage on a big adventure
‘Fore we’re rockin’ in our rockers and chewin’ with dentures
We’ve done lost Elvis and Conway Twitty
Don’t you think it’s time to see rock city?
Yeah, rock city, yeah, see rock city, yeah, rock city, yeah
My dad died in 2001, when I was sixteen, due to even more complications from diabetes. One day shortly after Rich and I decided we were really going to do this thing, the lyrics to this song got stuck in my head, and despite the slightly dated southern references, it’s describing exactly what we are doing– seizing the day while we are young and able, setting off on the biggest adventure we can imagine.
Rich: I am originally from Southwest Philadelphia, and I cannot wait to see it all. Planning all of this– the itinerary, where we will stay, how we will get there, which credit cards will pay for what– is a big puzzle for me, and I am loving figuring it out from start to finish. Look for Amanda to write most of the blog posts while I will tackle the ins and outs and where we have been sections.