Sitting in the Frankfurt airport my mind tells me it is 6:03 in the morning, but the clock on the wall says it is 1:03 in the afternoon, one hour until I wing it back to the States.  It has been almost a year exactly since I made my first attempt at crossing the Gulf of Mexico.  The past 48 hours have turned out a lot like my first 48 hours.  Neither venture turned out in any way how I’d hoped, but both are equally important to me for one reason, I set my fears aside and went for what I wanted.

My time here in Germany with Maria has been well spent, but with my question answered it is easier to leave now rather than prolonging the last goodbye by another week.  Nick Jaffe, a fellow singlehander who’s just completed his own epic journey, said in his blog, "To do something like this takes a great amount of selfish endeavor and single-mindedness. Relationships are strained, severed, mistreated and broken. Friends come, go, and are lost after years of neglect… ".  With almost three weeks left in the States I’ll spend the rest of my time doing what I can to reconnect with those friends with whom I’ve lost so much contact since I started this sojourn.

So, back from Germany, I’ll load my old pickup with my backpack and head South.  Other than burning a few frequent flyer miles I had nothing to lose in Frankfurt.  Now, I can enjoy my time with my friends and family returning in a few weeks to Colombia with no hang-ups about continuing my westward advance into the Pacific.

2010 is just around the corner.  Here is to starting new, all over again.