Traveling should be more that getting from point to point. I find it easy to treat travel as a valuable journey no matter where the destination is. When there are exotic locations, different cultures, and a few obstacles thrown in the mix there’s a quest at hand. Such has been often been the case for me these days.
Traveling on any quest entails exploring as well as being away from home. I have a need to see the world for myself. I fight for the window seat. If there is significant distance between two stops, there’s something significant to see along the way. I know imagining Big Ben coming into view while crossing over Westminster Bridge from the top floor of a double-decker bus is not the same as the first hand experience.
Traveling allows one to experience new surroundings and forces one to reflect on those passed. It has all the ingredients for making new memories and revisiting old ones. My fondest childhood memories are rambling up and down the East coast with my family. It never really mattered where we were going. All really I remember of trips made at the beginning of autumn is starring at the changing colors of the leaves on the side of the road. As I flew over Great Britain for the first time, I saw sheep pastures and golf courses. I’ll always remember the view and rejoice in the felling of wonder that I got from flying over the vast Atlantic and then reaching a new land.Traveling’s hardships teach lessons of vigilance just as sight seeing imparts history lessons. It typically involves long hours with cramped leg room exhausted being worried about the tales of passports stolen from sleeping rail passengers, the possibility of a car breaking down in the middle of no where, or the swarms of pickpockets waiting for innocent tourist. My family has a habit of writing to check that I am still constantly vigilant of these situations. I’ve learned not to keep my wallet in the back pocket. These worries will never keep me from venturing though so long as I get to occasionally look out at passing cow pastures and eventually arrive at a historically fascinating and mysterious place such as Stonehenge, where I went this weekend. Yes, “Traveling is a brutality. It forces you to trust strangers and to lose sight of all that familiar comfort of home and friends. You are constantly off balance.” Maybe, it’s just me, but this harsh description of travel by Cesare Pavese tends to remind me that exploration is a rush. As someone who has always had wanderlust to spare, but few opportunities to go for a while, I am now excited to extend my comfort zones and more than willing to spend time searching for the right tickets, filling out the paperwork, and mapping the best route. I’ve realized that leaving my comfort zone to travel is going to be worth the risk and effort most of the time. I like that the scenic route learned on one trip becomes a comfort zone next time returning or going in the same direction is possible.
Traveling is a means for first hand experience to replace imagination. I have yet to hear of there ever being a shortage of pictures of the Roman Baths, Stonehenge, or Big Ben. Yet, most everyone visiting these sight has a camera in hand. As a tourists I get walk on hallow ground and touch the water from ancient springs. The first hand perspective is a very thrilling personal experience that matters to travelers and motivates us to travel the distance. Saying to yourself Am I really here? Did I make it all this way? Yes! I am seeing this up close with my own eyes! This is awesome! is such a rush. I love being overwhelmed by these thoughts. I arrived in England. The first weekend I went to Cambridge. Then I did London, Bath, and Stonehenge. I want to go still even further in order to feel a sense of progression. So, today I booked a flight to Oslo, Norway with friends I met here. I expect weekends in random cities like Oslo will sustain the thrilling feeling of realizing how far I’ve made it. Maybe I sound crazy. However, I know I cannot be the only one I know who keeps maps just to encourage pondering how I made it to a far away land and where I’ll go next.Traveling is a choice. Pavese said, “nothing is yours except the essential things: air, sleep, dreams, sea, the sky – all things tending towards the eternal or what we imagine of it.” I think “essential things” includes choice; the decision to travel is yours as well as the decision of what to take with you, so long as it’s a limited amount of baggage though.
Traveling accomplishes goals and results in a sense of awe upon reflecting on the road traveled and reveling in the sense of everything being new and different and special. That’s why I support indulging wanderlust when the opportunity arises. Especially since sometimes the chance and time to are fleeting. One day the trekking up hills sights on the other side is done with and then it’s time to passing stories and luggage along to grandchildren, just as my grandmother did to me just before I left for Europe.
