Professor Sharon

Or are we? Well, we are going on sabbatical. And, in some ways and places, I suppose we’d love to still be known as hippies. You see, once upon a time, that’s what hubby and I called ourselves.

I got thinking about these things this morning when we were making a spread sheet of the costs of this sabbatical.  While I’m not quite willing, as yet, to admit to the projected costs, it was enough to make me catch my breath and reminisce about our hippie days!

Back in 1973, newly married, we got in our great orange Dodge van and headed across country.   In 8 weeks, we covered 7,000 miles of the United States zigzagging north and south, sleeping at the side of the road and occasionally in a camp ground.   We visited several communes thinking and experiencing communal life trying to decide which would appeal to us.  This whole event cost us $600.  (for everything!) plus $1000 for gas.

We took the byways, and, other than contacting the communes, had nothing planned.  Not even the end — actually the plan was we had to end up in California when our cash ran out!  This trip ended while sleeping in Phoenix where it was over 100 degrees at three in the morning!  Too much heat for us; so we got up and drove straight through to LA to my sister’s house.

This trip has an incredibly amount of events pre-planned, pre-paid and otherwise thought out!   Of course, we could have thrown the backpack on, gotten off the plane and repeated, to some degree, our 1973 excursion.   But, you know what, we’re in our early 50s, and the backs, the brains and, thank goodness!, the pocketbook isn’t what it used to be!