{"id":19955,"date":"2025-07-01T12:00:15","date_gmt":"2025-07-01T17:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/driftlessareamag.com\/unicdn\/?p=19955"},"modified":"2025-10-09T00:47:21","modified_gmt":"2025-10-09T05:47:21","slug":"points-north-the-longest-paddle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/driftlessareamag.com\/unicdn\/2025\/07\/01\/points-north-the-longest-paddle\/","title":{"rendered":"Points North- The Longest Paddle"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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I<\/span>n the summer of 2015, Traci Lynn Martin\u2019s mom was in the final weeks of a battle with cancer.<\/strong>\u00a0 A hospice bed was set up in her mom\u2019s living room in Kansas City. Traci would sit by her side and talk as they looked out the window.<\/span><\/p>\n

Traci asked her mom about everything \u2014 her childhood, her memories, her wishes. And during one of those conversations, her mom surprised her.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cShe said, \u2018You know, I really regret not ever learning how to swim, and I really regret that I never learned how to play the piano.\u2019 And she pointed to the piano, and she said, \u2018You know, if you have anything you want to do, Traci, do it. Don’t wait, because you don’t know how much time you have.\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Traci realized there was something she wanted to do: circumnavigate all of the Great Lakes in one year by kayak.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

No one had ever done it before. This was it: a chance at total freedom and release on the water \u2014 with only herself, her body and her boat to rely on.<\/span><\/p>\n

Traci just had to figure out how to make it happen.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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