I am a traveler. I have been to so many places in the world, and I have a constantly changing list of places that I want to go to next. Sometimes I worry that I will not be able to see all of the places I want to see before I die. I love all aspects of travel: planning the trip, the journey, the destination, and coming home.
So, the Birthday Book got it right with giving my date the caption and icon that it did. It not only refers to my constant desire to start new projects, but the literal meaning of needing to go out into the world and explore. One of the things that I struggle with is boredom, and the appeal of travel is that it gives you a smorgasbord of new experiences. You never know exactly what you are going to see, who you are going to meet, or how it is going to affect you. In foreign places, the mundane (going to the grocery store, taking the subway) becomes fascinating. I actually can't think straight if I don't have the stimulus that travel offers.
I think that travel is wonderful in that it does two really cool things: it makes the world a smaller place by letting you commune with cultures other than your own, as well as gives you a new context and appreciation for your home. Sometimes I feel that I can't "see" my home if I don't leave it for a while and come back. It's almost like the expression "absence makes the heart grow fonder".
We are preparing for a trip next week, and I realize that it has been 2 months since I have been on a plane. That seems like an eternity to me. On our trip, we will join my family in Europe to visit Prague, Munich, and Berlin. It's so exciting - 3 places that I have never visited! I am clearing a spot in my mind to make room for all of the new things that I am going to see.
I find guidebooks to be exceedingly dull. I pick them up and start to read and feel no connection whatsoever to the place I will be going to. They are fine as a reference once you get there, but the pictures may as well be from the dictonary, they are so static, and the writers never seem to be speaking to me. The "Time Out" guides are the only ones worth bothering with. Thank God I discovered that the NYX online has videos as a part of their travel section, so you can really get the feel and flavor of a place in a matter of minutes. Once again, proof positive that the NYX is just about the only useful and well-executed news publication we have in this country.
I would be a very different person if I did not have the means and ability to travel. I am very thankful that I can. It is a freedom that I hope to have and use throughout my life.
