Wednesday, September 02, 2009

I'm leaving on a jet plane...

These seem to be words that I say more and more frequently. The travel bug has burrowed deep in my heart and will not let me rest until I have flown off to see some distant land. And this week it's off to San Francisco for a few days to explore and visit dear friends that relocated there a few months ago.

I think it was Hawaii that first exposed me to the travel bug a little over a year and a half ago. Other than a few trips across the Mexican border, Hawaii was the most foreign place I had ever been to. It may be one of the United States of America but as THE most remote place in the world (about 2500 miles from the nearest continent) it felt like another planet. I loved the thrill of being someplace so new and exotic. And since that first trip to Hawaii I have been averaging about a trip (by plane) every three months. And yes folks, that is all travel for pleasure!! Of course, all of my destinations are with in the US and to visit friends that scattered out all over the country. I don't want you all to think I am sitting on a goldmine or anything. I have just made travel, exploration and adventure a big priority in my life these days.

Next summer I do plan to take a sabbatical between quitting work and returning to school for the soul purpose of travel. I am invigorated and inspired by travel and new cultures. I am planning to wander about the Mediterranean and see what I see, mainly in Italy and Greece. I have been storing up airline miles like a squirrel hording nuts for the winter. Now it's time to cash them in and have the biggest adventure of my life.

Bono sang, "I still haven't found what I'm looking for." And maybe that is why I travel, in part. But the more I travel, the more I find that there is so much more worth looking for than I ever imagined. I will leave it to others wiser and more well travelled than my self to give a few more reasons to take to the roads, the seas, the skies and see what other wonders we might discover.

“The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.” - St. Augustine

“The journey not the arrival matters.” - T. S. Eliot

“Perhaps travel cannot prevent bigotry, but by demonstrating that all peoples cry, laugh, eat, worry, and die, it can introduce the idea that if we try and understand each other, we may even become friends.” - Maya Angelou

“All journeys have secret destinations of which the traveler is unaware.” - Martin Buber

Tuesday, September 01, 2009

Life has been a whirlwind of activity lately. The last 6 months or so have been filled to the brim with travels all over the US. Celebrations for birthdays, engagements, and more. Outings to take advantage of all the lovely weather we had this summer in Seattle. Beginning new journeys toward the fulfillment of new dreams.

It has all be wonderful!! Even the challenges and the stretching have been welcome change.

Now, all of the sudden, I look at the calendar and I see that is has some how become September 1st. Where has the time gone?

I am a little weary, but in the best way possible, at the moment. I think today I will simply say hello and let you know that I am still here. Still journeying through life and seeking out new things to do and see and be. Soon I will give a few more specifics on my journey of late. Till then I hope you are well and enjoying your journey!!