Considering Travel

It’s early on a Wednesday morning. Hump day as we call them here. Once you’re over the hump, it’s all downhill. However, at the moment, I’m staring at Wednesday from the base of Mount Everest… thinking of the climb to the summit and feeling very weary.
I met with a friend last week to discuss travel plans. She had some ideas. I had some ideas. I’m not sure that they mesh.

She would like to spend all our time in Greece. And, while I think Greece would be interesting, it’s cutting into time I could better use in the UK. I haven’t seen every square inch of the British Isles yet… and I so want to.

People don’t stop to think (well, Americans don’t) that the UK is a collection of about a zillion islands. Of course there’s the big one (England/Scotland/Wales)… but then you have the Isle of Man, Isle of Wight, Gurnsey, Portsea Island, Portland, the Shetland Islands, Orkney… so many I could go on forever.

Then, there’s Lindisfarne (Holy Island) which the Vikings ransacked and nearly destroyed Catholicism in Britain. Darn those Vikings!

I have seen none of them.

Or how about a trip to Findhorn… one of the oldest running spiritual communes in the world, and one of the best known. Findhorn

I want to see Inverness and Aberdeen and Penzance and Cornwall and Cardiff.

And, of course, I want to see the rest of Ireland.

You see? I have enough to keep me busy for a lifetime of visits.

In Greece, I’d want to sit in a hammock on Santorini island and gel. I’m not even that interested in the architecture or history. I know that’s sacrilege.

It would be a beautiful visit for me, but probably not very intellectually fulfilling. I’m just a very focused traveler, I suppose.

Sometimes, it worries me that I may not be able to do this much longer. I’m 52 now…soon to be 53. The trips are becoming more and more wearing as the years go by. It’s not physical weakness as much as it is … the length of the trip, the frustrations of traveling to and from such a distant place, leaving my dogs knowing they will be traumatized for the two weeks I’m gone… that sort of thing.

Each trip, I travel as if it’s my last… because it may well be.

And, perhaps we are supposed to travel that way. It makes it very easy to live in the moment and enjoy the breadth and depth of the experience.