I’m in Barcelona staying on a nice sailboat for four days. It once belonged to Frank Sinatra. Marylin Monroe might have had coffee where I’m sitting right now.

I met a really nice couple from British Columbia who are in the cabin across from mine. They are retired. Traveling. The husband has cancer and he said this is probably the last trip they will be able to take. He can’t eat solid food. His wife told me that he is starting to decline rapidly. He can’t see out of one eye.

This is why I’m traveling now. I’ve had people in my life — friends, my parents, siblings, in-laws — whose plans have been interrupted or stopped cold by chronic illnesses or worse. I wanted to do this trip now, before I get older, before I get sick, before I die.

While I can still enjoy it. Inspire people with the stories of it.

Death is a part of life. It arrives, and often we don’t know when. My hope is that we all work to perfect the life part in the meantime.