Wanderlust

Originally published September 10, 2007

"Afoot and light-hearted I take to the open road, Healthy, free, the world before me, The long brown path before leading wherever I choose."
--Walt Whitman. Open lines, "Song of the Open Road," 1856, Leaves of Grass, 1855-1892.


I recently returned from a wonderful weekend away with friends (Hi, Nay & Riya!) and it got me to thinking about traveling and what makes it so appealing to some and a trial for others.

For me, I love it. I would love it even more if I had unlimited funds, but honestly that's really the only thing I don't like about traveling - the expense. Paris, and especially London, last spring were particularly crippling when it came to the budget. It was lucky that Cassey and I had our lodging free everywhere we went!

But going to new places, meeting new people and experiencing new cultures is what drives me to trek to as many places as I find intriguing. I only wish I could do some time-travel too, for the cultures have evolved so much in the last 2000+ years. There are certainly places that I wouldn't go now (mostly due to safety concerns) that I'd love to explore - Egypt during the height of Victorian archaeological discoveries... Ireland when kings still sat on the throne of Tara... Paris during the time of Louis XIV... Constantinople and Byzantium... the cultures of the Inca and the Mayans...

Well, enough day-dreaming! So I sat at lunch today and wrote down all the places I had traveled (or at least the highlights). I was surprised at how much I've actually traveled --

In the US:
Michigan
Indiana (of course!)
Illinois
Wisconsin
Minnesota (layover)
Oregon
California
Arizona (layover)
Kansas
Missouri
Kentucky
Tennessee
Georgia
Florida
South Carolina
North Carolina
Washington, DC (layover)
Pennsylvania
New York
Delaware (drive through state)
Rhode Island (drive through state)
Connecticut
Massachusetts
West Virginia (drive through state)
Ohio

Outside the US:
Canada
England
Belgium (layover)
France
Ireland

I feel blessed to have the experiences! But coming home is always the most wonderful leg of the journey, and in a way I understand why there are people who would prefer not to wander far from their doorstep. Home is safe and secure and one's own bed and pillow are the best comfort of all.

I'm waiting for the day when transporter travel is a reality so I can visit a new place in the morning and be home by bedtime!


Two more quotes about traveling - both from JRR Tolkien...

"Not all who wander are lost."


"It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to."