- The ship we're all on is sinking. I want to take a look at the lifeboats.
- I want to give seasonal migration a try before the climate changes any more.
- There's a time for putting down roots and a time for spreading wings. I enjoyed putting down roots in Minneapolis, but lately they're coming back up. Time to fly!
- This trip was a good idea when I thought it up in 2001, and everything's pointed me in this direction ever since.
- I've read a lot of books about the state of the world, but there's only so much you can learn from books. I want to see for myself.
- To live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I cannot learn what it has to teach, and not, when I come to die, discover that I have not lived. (apologies to Thoreau)
- If my 20s are for figuring out what to do with my life, I'd better get a move on! (I turn 30 in 2005.)
- If I want to understand US politics, I need to understand the South. I've never been there before; time to give it a chance.
- So many friends and family members have invited me to come and visit, I couldn't put them off any longer.
- Maybe I'll find someplace I like better than Minneapolis. Maybe I'll realize how much I like Minneapolis!