Those of you that know Joe, the content to follow will not sound new. He loves surprises….and is good at them.

The remainder of this post is intended to help me remember the details of yet another amazing feat of Joe Wall. If you are so intrigued to join me, than Willkommen!

A bit of context first. At this time in March, I was traveling to over 15 different schools throughout the city of Philadelphia, usually multiple in a day. We had been waiting on word from the Foundation, which was scheduled to come down on March 8^th (Tuesday). I scheduled myself a free day to be with Joe…and support him through whatever decision was made. There was no news on Tuesday…or Wednesday….I couldn’t keep waiting….I had to work.

On Wednesday of that week Joe asked me to start telling him where I was going in Philly. I figured it was out of concern for safety, since I am “geographically challenged”, was driving a vehicle with 265,000+ miles on it, and frequenting the shadier sides of Philly. I said I would start writing my locations on the calendar, but ultimately forgot to. However, what I did do was complain about one of the teachers I was going to visit on Friday.

So, Friday (March 11^th) comes and I am finishing up with my last teacher. I got into the car and found a note from Joe. Confused, I opened it and began reading. It was an invitation to hang out and join him at a specific address. I found out later that Joe had (of course) been listening intently to my complaining and snooped through my work papers to find the school names and addresses of the teachers I was seeing on Friday. What is really weird is that he had dropped the letter in the car just minutes before I found it. I had simultaneously been looking out the window at the parking lot with the teacher I was visiting, trying to determine the best back-door to use to get to my car, which I could see from the window. Yet, I never saw Joe.

As any good husband who truly knows the idiosyncrasies and skill deficiencies of his wife would do, Joe had included directions for parking in the note with the address. When I got to the parking lot I found out that it would cost $25, which I was not willing to pay. I pulled out and pulled over to another spot on the street, which did not have a meter. However, the three other spots in front of me did have one. I called Joe to let him know my status, and my concerns about leaving the car in this particular spot. He said, “Move it if you are concerned. Just turn left at the next street, left again, and then around the block. You will be on South Street. There is plenty of parking.”

Too concerned about the parking, it didn’t phase me that I had not told him the exact intersection where I was. Yet, he gave very specific directions for finding a better spot. I drove around to South Street and found a new spot. (Side Note: For those of you who I have deceived all these years, here is a hidden truth about me- I don’t like parking, I am not good at it, and I am paranoid about it.) So…I parked the car…got out…checked both bumpers…walked down the street to check the signage…paid…collected the receipt…and then got back in the car… and closed the door. Little did I know Joe was watching me from across the street the entire time…and getting frustrated. He had seen me pull into the other spot a block away, hence his ability to give such specific directions!

Having the parking situation figured out, I sat in the car and got out the MapQuest map he gave me with the specific location for meeting and got my bearings for where I had to go. (Another Side Note: I don’t like directions, I am not good at them, and getting lost gives me anxiety). I finally got out of the car and crossed the street. Joe was suddenly there, walking towards me. Standing on the street, he gave me a card that had all different words for “home” on it. Inside he wrote the word “Haus” and “That’s what they call it in….Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany.”  I had to ask him for sure if that meant he had been accepted and assigned his 1^st choice location. Indeed it did!

Walking down the street, I didn’t even notice the Brauhaus Schmitz. The only German restaurant in Philadelphia. Needless to say, we enjoyed some beers and Jägerschnitzel. Over dinner Joe also revealed that he had found out about the assignment “unofficially” on Wednesday, planning and masterfully maintaining composure for 48 hours.

Oh, Joe Wall. What are you gonna do? What are you gonna do? Orlando.

It was Christmas morning, the year lost to time’s winged chariot. It could have been during my high school years, maybe early college. Regardless, I had not yet learned that the plan I had created for my life was never really up to me. I was still unaware that the tidy (and largely straight) little path I had planned to travel down would convolute over and into itself dozens of times in the years to come.

I could tell from the shape and weight that it was a book, and a hefty one at that. A gift from my mom, it was a soft cover copy of 1000 Places to See Before You Die. Like a lot of girls at that precarious age, the thoughts and actions of my mother were mostly used as fodder for late-night gab-sessions with equally confused compatriots. Why my mom saw that book and thought it would be an appropriate gift for me, Trysta, is still unknown to this day. She had no idea that I would be lucky enough to grow an unquenchable thirst for all things outside our one-horse town and to be loved by a man who would be equally intrigued to experience the world….one place at a time.

The book lay dormant on a shelf for some time. Granted, I flipped through it here and there, but wasn’t in a place to really understand it’s potential. Again, the sands of time have taken the details from me, but sometime during college I looked through it again with a new lens. Maybe it was because I was more independent and searching for who I really wanted to be. Maybe it was simply because I had the means to go places I wanted to go, without permission. Really, it could have just been my over-organized personality and the rush I got from crossing accomplished items off a to-do list. This was the ultimate life to-do list: a challenge I was ready to ensconce myself in.

I made a plan to mark each of the 1,000 places with the date I visited and include a picture for proof. Honestly, this plan was truly rooted in a romantic vision littered with sentimentality. Unfortunately, I lost my grandparents before I could appreciate (and learn from) the rich experiences their lives had to offer. I really didn’t know them at all and I wish I could have. Someday I wish for my grandchildren to know me, if even after my death, and learn from the opportunities I have been blessed to experience. Ultimately, I want them to hear stories of grandeur and adventure and think, “Wow, she was cool!”

Here is how I see the vision playing out: A dusty attic filled with items once loved and then forgotten. A book, tattered and worn, wrapped in ribbon to hold the pages in order. Pages filled with exotic places, each one marked with a date in faded cursive. Between the pages are pictures of people, happy to pose in front of quintessential landmarks, breathtaking landscapes, or forgotten hot-dog stands. There is one common thread to the pictures: me (or fondly called “Grandma” by the archeologists of the book) and my favorite people. My grandchildren will see me surrounded by the people I loved and was lucky enough to share an adventure with. An essay on life and opportunity, through pictures and places.

In order to realize my vision, I have started early! I have owned three copies of 1000 Places to See Before You Die. There are a myriad of iterations, like 1000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die and 1000 Places to See in the U.S.A and Canada Before You Die, but I have stayed true to the original, believing that anything less would be lowering my expectations. I discovered the copy that will be the substance of my vision when I was about 26, living in New Jersey, and shopping at Restoration Hardware. It was a hard copy with a black leather cover. It was beautiful. I even smelled it to make sure it was real leather. The pages of the soft copies now get ripped out before an adventure as a reference tool, folded and soiled with the dirt of many countries.

That brings us to today, 12 days after learning that I will be moving to Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany with my husband. He has been accepted into the 2012 class of Olmsted Scholars, a program within the military that will provide us with an amazing opportunity to learn and study the language and culture of Germany, and travel the western European region. I feel blessed that his hard work and accomplishments within the military will allow us to take advantage of such a rich experience.

To date, I have only accomplished 83 of the 1,000 places listed, a mere 8%! Although I have always felt very well traveled for a 29 year-old, there is 92% of the world left to see! Here then begins my quest to add dates and pictures to the vision, chipping away at the to-do list of life travelers. Perhaps it was a mother’s intuition at the book store one day, knowing just the right book to choose for a daughter with a future not yet revealed. Perhaps it was the book itself, sparking small flames of restlessness to be fueled by westerlies. Either way, the journeys to come are dedicated to you MOM. My biggest fan and true supporter, in addition to a wonderful travel partner.