I like being on the move. There is something about it for me that is both an escape and rejuvenation of adventure and excitement. By the same token travelling for me means a chance to take a break, relax and reflect.
There aren’t manner hours in the week where I can open a novel or catch up on the news or write a blog. At least, I don’t make time for this in the normal day-today. So for me, it’s a chance to do just that – stop and catch up. And I don’t feel the guilt of not doing anything as it is a necessity to travel anyway.
I used to love driving my ute long distances in Australia. Many times the trip between Adelaide and Melbourne, an 8 hour drive, would rouse my thoughts and give me a chance to make big decisions or think through issues. While you can’t read you can certainly listen to music, talk with friends (in the car or on the phone) or simply drive with the sound of the diesel engine, a cool breeze through the window and various smells of the Australian countryside. But I don’t have a car in Europe and prefer to catch the train where possible or fly so that I can really not have to think about the travel. Besides, the Autobahns, no matter how fast you can drive, is no more than a mesmerizingly boring channel of concrete.
Lucky I’m short-ish because actually I can get quick comfortable in a plane or train. I choose the window seat so I can lean my head on something. If I’m tired enough I can be asleep before take-off and awoken by the screech of wheels on the tarmac at landing. There are no phones, no internet and only people or words in books or on paper or on a screen to keep me entertained. Or the back of my eyelids.
Sure – there are delays and issues and I prefer not to have to deal with missed train connections, screaming babies, broken down planes and moved gates. But that’s all part of it. Nothing amuses me more than the stress it brings others. If you think the world is perfect and goes to plan - don’t leave the couch.
I get bored easily so by keeping on the move I can convince myself that there’s always something new. Even if I go to the same place over and over but it’s broken up with other trips, then it feels new. Maybe I’m just a goldfish in a small tank going back and forth. That’s the escape part and where the adventure begins because with that extra time of thinking I get a chance to contemplate doing new things or making decisions for the future. This brings new adventures which for me, when focused on the day-to-day, are not addressed. The to-do list is always lengthened after a plane or train trip.
No comments:
Post a Comment