Travel

I've always liked to travel. I like a change of scenery. In addition to the yearly vacations to the beach when I was a child, I enjoyed trips just about anywhere, any time. I took my first plane trip without a parent at age eight or so (and I dressed up for the trip, too). I like to plan trips in the future and also I like to take trips on short notice. I'm nearly always game to head off somewhere.

Traveling opens me up to experiencing life in a different way. It's not hard for me to get myself stuck in a rut of routine and laziness so a quick trip to somewhere different can jolt me out of that and keep me engaged in living more fully. There's so much of God's green earth that I want to see.

All that being said, I think I may not be very easy to travel with. A few years ago, I planned a big trip for our whole family to Ireland. It was a wonderful vacation and I loved it. We went many places and saw lots of things - cities, countryside, concerts, coastlines, castles, cemeteries, (and that's just the c's). We packed a lot into ten days.  But I've heard my family describe it to others as "Mom's forced march through Ireland."

These days I travel alone more frequently, since I mostly live alone. There's a lot of freedom in that. I am pretty attached to feeling free (for good or for ill). I like traveling alone fine, generally. I don't have to admit my mistakes to anyone else and only have myself to blame if I over do it, although meal times are less enjoyable. This may seem odd for an extrovert like me, and perhaps this solitary travel mode is just for a season, but there it is.

Are you a traveler? Do you like to travel alone, or would you rather travel with family or friends?