"Keep true the dreams of thy youth.
- Friedrich von Schiller"

I'm not entirely sure what are the dreams of my youth.  I feel I've carried the same dreams for so long that they've always been with me.

I feel so dissatisfied. But instead of taking steps to write and travel more, I wallow in the reasons why I can't right now.

I don't have time to finish the essay on Portuguese church feasts.  I'm too old to take street hip hop dance lessons. I don't have money to travel outside of the United States. I ought to be practical.

Trouble is I'm tired of practical.

I dream of cashing in my 401K to take two years to criss cross the globe. Or to use the money to return to school full-time to study archaeology. Or to buy property.

And that's part of the problem.

I'm not sure exactly what I should do. I want to do all three. Then reality sets in and I fall back on routine. Wake up, go to the office, do good work, go out in the city, and repeat cycle the next day.

Saving enough money to take off for a long period of time seems impossible. Well... improbable. So for now I quench my lust for culture with visits to the Smithsonian and National Geographic. And I'll be traveling to Albuquerque for the first time in October.

Instead of matriculating in a graduate program, I attend lectures and workshops given by one of the many museums or colleges in DC. Not the same as in depth study I know -- but at least I'm learning something.

As for property, I'm waiting for the prices to come down a little more to seriously consider buying. And to give some more thought on why I want to buy.