Around the World

That Little Voice

I’ve been thinking about traveling this spring to Europe and wondering where I want to go in them thar lands.

I’m for sure going to Tuscany in Italy for a writing workshop, but while in that area of the world, where else would be fun to visit? Spain? Greece? France? Or if I want more excitement maybe a few days in Ukraine and another long weekend in Afghanistan would get the adrenaline racing through my body at a speed I haven’t felt in my lifetime.

I’m not big on cruises, but I read about a four-year cruise that will take you to 140 countries on all the earth’s continents. Of course, that might not be in my budget unless I could hire on as a portress or laundry worker down in the bowels of the ship.

Then I began thinking perhaps what I need to do is return to the U.S. and travel to all the states I haven’t visited. There are not many states I’ve missed. Never been to North or South Dakota, Ohio, Iowa, Indiana and Alaska, so I could drive around those states. And by then the U.S. might have added Canada, Greenland, and the Panama Canal as states. I’ve been to parts of Canada but have never set foot in Greenland nor Panama.

The options are endless especially if I broaden my vision to include other parts of the world like India, Japan, south America, Vietnam, Hungry, Germany. Oh wow, I have lived a limited traveling life.

One thing I’ve enjoyed while living in San Miguel is running into people who are well traveled in and around this world. You meet folks who have lived in countries I have never heard of spending years in Budapest or the Philippines or parts of Africa.

They’ve made friends in countries all over the planet and have stories to tell of their adventures exploring other cultures, tasting new foods, and learning different values and beliefs and languages.

I feel like I’ve led a sheltered and limited life, staying busy making a living, but perhaps missing another way of living.

I remember while living in Australia years ago how surprised I was learning many of the young people would strap on a backpack and take off for months to other countries, staying in hostiles, working part time at various jobs, and becoming comfortable in being what I call ‘nestless’. They would return to their country of origin much wiser, more aware of the world they hadn’t known, and better educated with their first-hand experiences.

As I sit here in my comfortable chair looking at the world map with choices I can make, I wonder if my 82-year-old body is up to 140 countries in four years. Or am I even up to five states in four weeks? That could be a challenge, but what wonderful material to write home about. I will have to keep notes about where I have been, or by the time I get back to my comfy chair, I may be challenged to even remember I left.

Maybe watching National Geographic on TV would satisfy my yearning to travel. I could save money and miss flight cancellations.