Keep Going

I woke up in Santa Cruz, and it was raining. It had been raining for days and the rain would continue throughout my trip.

I had planned to be in Santa Cruz as a place to prep for a camping trip in Big Sur. In Santa Cruz, I had saved in my Maps places like REI and Trader Joe’s — productive, practical stops, rather than tourist destinations. I had no real idea about what to do in Santa Cruz, other than prepare for my road trip.

So on that first morning, the sound of light rain outside my hostel window, and a cancelled camping reservation leaving 2 open days in my itinerary, I begrudgingly got out of bed and went for a walk. My hostel was a couple blocks from the beach, with a long wharf jutting out from the boardwalk. I headed there.

Several times during my walk, I considered turning around. The rain was light, but ever-present and annoying. There was traffic on the wharf, and it was filled with tourist shops and restaurants. This was not the “cool, local” scene I was hoping to find.

About half-way down the wharf, I saw one lone sea lion bobbing in the water. I fumbled for my camera, but it went back under before I could take a photo. Just my luck, I thought.

But I kept walking. Soon, I heard the splashes and sounds of herd of adult sea lions, lounging under the wharf. They were lying just above the waves, with younger pups playing in the waters below.

I kept walking, still, and was gifted with even more sea lions playing at the end of the wharf. Hundreds of young pups playfully swimming, dunking one another, and socializing as if they were gossipy teenagers.

Several times on that walk I wanted to quit. Hell, I even wanted to quit before the walk itself — I wanted to quit the whole morning, the whole trip. That’s the power of defeated expectations.

But, if I had quit, I would have missed this beautiful, natural sight. This incredible feeling of stumbling on something that I didn’t know existed.

Disappointment can be debilitating, should we wallow in it. A last-minute change of plans, a road closure or flight cancellation. Your ideas of what a trip could have been, rather than what is, now.

But I propose: keep going. Choose to truly be present, now. Wherever you are.

Find the beauty in what is right in front of you: the cheerful sound of morning birds or the fresh smell of grass after a storm; a sweet elderly couple who greets you on a walk, or a herd of sea lion pups at the end of a wharf.

There is magic, if you choose to see it. I promise.