30 Comments

I love how you keep it real and so, so funny, Julia. Yes, you made me laugh and recognize that we are never too old for any journey we choose to make!

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Thanks, Amy. As my house slowly but surely gets finished and I get to reopen all the boxes which are crammed into a room downstairs, one of them is chock full of all my travel notebooks. There is a wealth of material in there, twelve years of stories much like this one. The way I see it, I get to model what most don't want to do: let's be fearless in hanging our slightly soiled tighty-whiteys out there and celebrate our collective humanity. The humor is what connects us. Learning out to take ourselves far less seriously is the real gift.

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Love this! You’ve managed to share so eloquently ...so relatable to us/most of us I hope! I have no limitations/issues yet, but peers do...and that’s exactly why they say “can’t go/can’t do” things anymore. Love your can-do spirit, Julia! I’ll be coaching a bladder health (incontinance) class to seniors next month... going to share this fun and funny tale if okay with you? It’s real life, it’s all of us in some way or another! 😁

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heavens, be my guest!

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I _howled_ at ‘piss in boots’ 😂

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Thank you Ruth. I even make myself laugh pretty hard at times. I have no clue where that came from but I hope the well didn't dry up!

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You made my day! Hilarious! Thanks for sharing.🤣❤

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You bet. I'm in the process of finding more of those memories from all the years of adventure travel. So many people think that such a life is an endless highlight reel. Yah...it is....of precisely what I wrote about. Trying to find a place to pee without an audience (wait, that's coming too) and the like. It's guffaw territory indeed.

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Ah, regarding the stories about trying to find a place to pee... I have those as well... e.g. in the middle of nowhere in Africa... no trees... no rocks... not even a tiny bush of grass... At a certain point you just don't care anymore. If one must pee, one must pee...

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OMG, that is too funny! I'm hoping I can do some adventuring this fall and I'll try to remember to keep a sense of humor about it when all of those things you mentioned will be my problems, too!

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We all have something, Ramona. I just don't want that something to be some BIG THANG which keeps us from enjoying ourselves!

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Fingers crossed!

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Julia! Laughter and Inspiration delivered indeed. Piss in boots had me rolling. I am endlessly impressed, my friend! What an adventure.

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Thanks, Holly. I've got twelve years of those and am slowly but surely pulling them all out. I am determined to get in the face of all those people who claim that we NEVER EVER PUT OUR MISTAKES ON LINE. Oh, for god's sake, go spit. My best stories are just like this. The superpower is laughter.

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Laughed out loud with your paddle leaking into your Depends! Always be prepared-expect the unexpected -or- carry Depends with you, or I always have some sort of bathroom wipe with me in case I'm ever caught without any TP. Thanks for being vulnerable and sharing this funny story about pee because otherwise you would've missed this awesome experience (and that's the whole point!)

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Absolutely. If I never went out because (name your reason) I would have no comedy material at all!

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I remember reading this story--or was it a different location--with your diapers hanging at your ankles? Anyhow, this article had me giggling all the way through! It's really great that you have been to Greenland. Do you have any musox photos? My ex-husband lived in Greenland in his teenage years while his father performed dentistry on the inuits, whose teeth were ruined by the sweets brought by the colonial Danes. It was a bleak and isolating experience... and his father committed suicide there, leaving him all alone. He often told me stories of Greenland, and we even dreamed of visiting it in the future. Perhaps one day I'll visit it on my own.

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That story was on Kilimanjaro, and those weren't diapers. Just my undies. I only wear Depends if I'm kayaking and can't stop for a bush on the shoreline. Happily! Suffice it to say that I have plenty of stories just like this! I have photos of musk ox but not handy. See Greenland before climate change transforms it forever.

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Oh yes, thanks for the reminder!

I heard it's really expensive to travel to Greenland, is that true? Climate change is alternating the landscape now and I can't imagine what it will become if the permafrost becomes permathaw 😰

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I don't remember the cost, Louisa and that was seven years ago, so most likely much has changed. Worth looking into though!

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OK! You've piqued my interest again :-)

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Thanks so much! Looks like it's out of my price range (even looking at the budget traveler's price range), but at least I can plan to save for it ;-)

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Well done Julia! I used to have pretty serious incontinence when I was running which was fine if I was alone but when it came to race time and I was surrounded by people I had to decide - to race or not to race. In my mind, I decided no one would know if it was sweat or something else and off I went. My socks and runners needed to get wrung out and well cleaned once the race was over!

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I'm not at that point yet but wouldn't be shocked if I got there. The good news is that at some point you stop making it matter so damned much. It doesn't.

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Exactly!

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The idea of squeezing out those Depends. The pee in your boots. And the fact I *had* to zoom in to see Jens-Pavier with your black diaper bag on his back. What a juicy story.

Thank you!!

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If we can't laugh, don't get out of bed!

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I am still giggling. Sponge Bog Wet Pants! Piss in Boots! Too funny. Cheers to you for telling this story on yourself, Oh Intrepid Wee One.

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Bahahahahahahha! Julia, there is a reason you're my hero and it sure isn't all the places you've been 😂😂😂

This was hilarious!

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