The best laid plans …..

mmmm, there’s lots of planning for this road trip, not only the route I’d like to take but the best route to meet MG patients and supporting organizations with whom I have increasing contact,  VW clubs and their members, and Facebook friends of my classic VW bus, The YesWeCan CamperVan who have invited me to drop in.

When I drove across country in 2010 I purposefully did not plan a route or schedule, because I wanted to let go of control and trust in God to lead me on a journey that would open my eyes, my mind and my heart to new learnings. It turned out to be one of the most marvellous experiences of my life.

It was also that experience that led me to plan this road trip, because when I discovered how much my VW creates opportunities to meet and talk to new people, I started to think about how to use those opportunities for a purpose. And now with this road trip, the purpose is to draw attention to Myasthenia Gravis and educate the public about this little known disease.

However what is different this time, is that not planning is not an option. In other words, to enlist others help in spreading the word, I need to plan ahead and publish a route plan with timings. That needs to be in place in order to request others to help organize meetings or events ahead of time.  And as I get more into the detailed planning I begin to realize that this is creating some anxiety within and in turn I start to wonder if I can really make this happen. What if something happens on the trip and I need to change the schedule; I can’t disrupt others’ schedules or change plans if they have organized an event to help; these are just a few of the thoughts going through my mind now and again.

Also I am beginning to feel some of the pressure from the expectations I have placed upon myself. Without the decades of experience of having a mother with Myasthenia Gravis and the years of experience in medical education, I would not have the ability to talk to both patients and doctors and nurses about this disease. And without social media, like this blog and Facebook and Twitter, I would not have been able to reach people whom I’ve yet to meet face to face and ask them to start spreading the word MG. But with social media also goes the expectation that I will write and post messages each day that I am on the road.

So I have certain expectations about how much I must achieve. And with all the driving and the cost of travelling over 6000 miles, I need to make sure I make the most of every mile. What is keeping me awake right now is how best to organize my trip so that I can make the most of this opportunity to spread the word about MG.

How can I do the best job I can do? How can I create interaction with others now at this planning stage before I set off on this 6500 mile drive to plan some newsworthy events? How can I enlist others help to spread the word, to contact their local newspapers, radio and TV stations about my arrival in their town to highlight a disease that most have never heard about? Will anyone be interested really? And will my VW keep going and my knee hold out?

Ah, for those of you who think that driving across country is easy peasy or you wish you were doing such a trip, perhaps you can send me some comments and tell me to quit these ramblings of mine and once more trust that all will be fine.