As someone who sees no need to travel any further than 30A or Sewanee, this is a tough one for me. Of course, I'm happy for him. Still, Tasmania? I mean, damn, it's a 25 to 28 hour trip. I'll worry every minute until I know he's safely on the ground on this island off the coast of Australia. I mean, what in the hell?!?
Truth be told, I'm very proud of him. The trip to Tasmania is part of an exchange program at MBA and to be one of two boys in the entire school selected to participate is quite an honor. JP will stay with a family in Tasmania, attend school, and return home on July 10 (the day after his old man turns 60). In January, our family will, in turn, host the young man whose family JP is staying with in Tasmania. Pretty cool, actually.
It's winter in Tasmania, as I understand it. Temperatures in the 50's and 60's, which sounds kind of nice, actually, compared to the mid-90's we have been experiencing in Nashville lately. Summer in Nashville, of course, is my least favorite time of year, so I'm jealous of the weather in Tasmania, at least.
As I think about it, JP taking this trip probably is good for me, as it gives me a tiny bit of a preview as to what it will feel like when he leaves for college next summer. JP is 18 and, in reality, he could decide to skip his senior year at MBA and move to Tasmania if he wanted to. He won't but he could, which is the point, right? Legally, JP is a grown up. A man.
What was I like at 18 years old? I wonder about that sometimes. I had been working full-time hours at Wal-Mart for more than two years when I turned 18 in July 1984. I worked too much during high school, actually, but I liked having my own money and a different identity than I had at school. I liked it that people at Wal-Mart depended on me.
When I graduated from high school, I was still 17, as my birthday wasn't until July. Still, I already had traveled on my own - no chaperones - to Daytona Beach, FL, for Spring Break, in what turned out to be one of the most memorable weeks of my life. There were 28 of us, as I recall, and in a stroke of serendipity, it was a perfect week.
After I graduated from high school, I went to Panama City Beach, FL, with my girlfriend at the time, Debbie Billings, and another couple. Because I was young, dumb, and arrogant, I told my mother I was going on the trip, rather than asking her. That, of course, was one of the benefits of having my own money, a car I was paying for, and the ability to be relatively self-sufficient. It was a precursor, I suppose, to how much I enjoyed, and thrived, on my own in my freshman year of college in Knoxville.
Is JP ready for this? I think he probably is. He's mature, confident, and driven. He'll be fine. Still, I will be glad when he texts us to confirm he's on the ground in Tasmania. That's for sure.
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