Mi latido del corazon!
The appetizer for my body and soul is the planning stage of my adventure. The planning stage begins settle the travel cravings of my soul, and then I must work out the practicalities that enable me to travel. I often travel for my career; however, at times my soul demands a personal adventure where I can free myself from the ball and chain known as "work"! My Uncle has a great saying that I always think about when planning trip. He would always say, "If it's in the plan, it's in the budget." I believe you can travel on a budget, but certainly, the big-ticket items are airfare and room and board. Get those two out of the way, and then I can "live" in the destination area cheaply. I love to stretch my money as far as I can-- doing so is a great challenge to conquer. Of course, having a full time job where I accrue vacation time hinders my opportunities for personal travels, but "C'est la vie!" In fact, working to earn my vacation time to travel makes me savor every moment on personal even more! I am very thankful for the opportunities I get to travel- both personally and professionally.
When my airfare and place to stay are on the books, my body and soul floods with anticipation! I cannot stop talking about my upcoming trip to everyone. Family, friends, and even strangers. I love to research the destination: culture, language(s), and yes, tourist attractions and destinations off the beaten track that the locals recommend. One thing that really annoys me is when people tourist-shame. They tend to "pick on" tourists because they look a certain way or do things that tourists are SUPPOSED to do. When I visit a destination, I do not mind being what I am, A TOURIST! LOL. Yes, I have worn my Nike's in Paris walking form tourist attraction to tourist attraction. I love seeing tourists in my home city of San Francisco! I love to see people step out of their hotels onto the streets of San Francisco in shorts, t-shirts and flip-flops to only realize that not all of California is "sunny California." I smile and enjoy an inside chuckle because that, too, happened to me when I visited San Francisco as a tourist! Yes, I am known to take the bus tour everywhere I go. I love them. Especially the double decors with the open tops. It is OK to be a tourist, we welcome tourism to our city and tourist-shaming is not cool! I digress.
My body and soul feels the most content when I begin my travels. Yes, when I begin, and not when I arrive. The start of the travel is like the first bite of the main course! The very first taste and it is oh, so good. The hustle bustle to get to the airport, the stress that carries me through the ticketing/TSA process, and the exhaustion I unpack with a relaxation beverage at cruising altitude! YES, it is happening!
The arrival is when my heart begins to announce to my soul with the thud/dub: "We're here, we're here, we're here!" I feel the most lost when I depart from the jet way into the airport. I do not know about you, but I never research the "landscape" of the arriving airport. I just have to figure it out; however, I do, at times feel the sense of being lost the most in the airport! Nevertheless, like always, I figure it out. The sense of feeling lost does not scare me as much domestically as it does when I travel internationally. In fact, one of the scariest times for me was when I found myself in a taxicab in the Czech Republic. The taxicab was in route from the airport to Prague, and it was difficult to communicate with the taxicab driver. His head was freshly shaven and he had a goatee. His physic was extremely defined with a ridiculously muscular upper body. He did not smile what so ever. His driving scared the shit out of me, and every time he would make a turn he would look through the rear view mirror at me with a concerning stares. I was so nervous and scared of the unknown; however, I just sat there acting confident when I was shaking inside. The areas we went through looked extremely rough and it seemed like it was taking forever. Needless to say, he was fine and it was all in my own mind. It did not help that I had just watched the movie "Saw" prior to my travels. I am happy to say that I arrived in Prague with all of my organs and the taxicab driver gave me the biggest smile and said "Welcome to Prague" in most gentle and kindest way possible. I think he could feel my unsteady nervousness in the taxicab. I had a blast in Prague!
Finally, when I have arrived I take a deep breath and relish in the sights, smells, and sounds that my body and soul begged for! I savor every moment of main course, and I settle into tourist life for the duration of my trip. My heart continues to pound with the excitement thud/dub pattern of "EX- plore, EX- plore, Ex- plore!" The exploration of a new place, or the melancholy of returning to a familiar place, brings a peaceful calm over my entire being! I love to travel because I am able to forget about the daily grind of usual life. I leave it all behind: bills, work, stress, family drama, school work, and daily routines.
However, after about a week, I long to return home with a body and soul that is full to the max of the travel cravings that now rests in a harmonious existence, as if my spirit is in a coma! A coma that most of us have experience, the one that instantly hits after being over stimulated and fed on a family filled Thanksgiving day. The return home is bitter sweet, and I look forward to the moment that I slip in between my own sheets on my own bed. The feeling of home tastes so good. The desert has been served. My heart's calm thud/dub gently beats, "Thank-you, thank-you, thank-you" as I fall asleep with a fully packed suitcase in the middle of the room.
I agree with Lyer when he states, "Travel, at heart, is just a quick way to keep our minds mobile and awake." It does not take long before the cycle starts all over again! My travel pattern can be summed up in the rhythmic beating of my heart: "Let's go, let's go" --> "We're here, we're here" --> "Ex-plore, ex-plore" --> "Thank-you, thank-you." Travel is my love, and my heart cannot beat without travel.
This page has paths:
- Remeber Traveling?!? Gary Walker-Roberts
