To paraphrase a recent commercial it is not how much we have accumulated in worldly goods, but how much we have experienced life.

And I know there is no better way to experience life than to travel to other places. My parents carried me to most states, Canada and Mexico when I was a child. I know I was lucky they were willing to make those sacrifices of time and money. We always drove no matter the distance.

But growing up the 1960s and 70s I also wanted to fly. I had the opportunity to do that twice as a first grader when Southern Airways would fly students to Nashville, Tennessee or Huntsville, Alabama.

I was instantly fascinated with the Nashville airport, now known more commonly as BNA. I seldom had the opportunity to visit it again in my youth. It would be 13 years before I would fly again, a trip to Miami, Florida.

But during that gap in flights, it was always on my mind to fly again. I would listen to Atlanta Braves games on the radio and hear that “Delta was ready when I was”. I would see commercials on television telling me “American Airlines was something special in the air”. Eastern Airlines was “the wings of man”. Pan Am “made the going great”.

I was ready, but I had to wait.

As a sportswriter in my early 20s I was fortunate enough to be able to satisfy my travel desires as part of my job. The best part was all of it was paid for by the newspaper I worked for, the old Nashville Banner. We were allowed to travel well. Often the trips were on airplanes.

On the road to the airport for a morning flight I have to admit I was often a little cocky knowing I was going to have a great travel adventure while so many of those on the road were destined to spend the day in an office or a cubicle.

The Nashville Predators often offered me a spot on their charter flights, especially in their first two seasons. They even paid for me to travel with the team of Tokyo, Japan for the opening of the NHL season back in 2000.

Through the years, like all good things, the frequency of my travels was drastically reduced. In 2022 a pair of surgeries to drastically different parts of my body kept me grounded from trips to Phoenix, Arizona ad Cooperstown, New York.

The good Lord willing I will soon be making another airplane trip. I haven’t flown since returning from Dallas, Texas where I saw the Nashville Predators play the Dallas Stars in the NHL Winter Classic on New Year’s Day 2020.

I know flying becomes more of a hassle with cancellations, hidden fees, lost luggage and security checks. No matter how you choose to travel there are always issues.

The new lobby of the Nashville airport looks great on TV. I look forward to seeing it in person.

We all have different priorities in life. Seeing as many places in the world as possible is mine. I know I have been blessed to travel extensively and I understand not everyone has the opportunity. But as long as I have the ability to pack a bag I am going to be ready to go on that next adventure.