I traveled the world with my father-in-law at the end of his life.
Heather Storgaard
In February 2022, my father-in-law, Finn, was given a year to live.He had peritoneal cancer, a rare type that affects the abdominal lining. Although it was everywhere and incurable, the doctors told us it likely wouldn't cause him significant pain until near the end.So, over a Scotch, I asked him what he wanted — if there were any people he wished to see or places he longed to visit. Somehow, I felt a strong need to fulfill his final wishes.Turns out, he wanted to travel.Although Finn had retired to a farm in rural Denmark, he had always been the adventurous type — moving to California in the early '70s despite not knowing anyone there, traveling through the Soviet Union in the '80s, and taking his family on vacation to Uganda and Kenya in the 2000s.Knowing he only had a year left sparked a return to that thirst for new experiences of places, people, and cultures.At first, the idea of traveling together felt almost daunting. Chemotherapy had already begun taking a toll on Finn, and we wanted to make sure he'd have access to reliable care if his health took a turn for the worse.
Plus, I knew my husband and I would both have to take a mix of paid and unpaid leave and use every holiday weekend we could in order to make it work.Given the weight of Finn's diagnosis, however, we all felt a quiet intensity surrounding every decision and interaction. A few months later, we took a leap and embarked on our first big trip to Seville, Spain.During our travels, I saw a different side to Finn
