How wonderful it is to live in a place that allows you the ability to go anywhere on the planet simply for the sake of movement and discovery. My parents often asked me when I was younger and had the time and means to travel on my own at the drop of a hat, "Why do you want to go to _______?" My response was always simple, "because I can." As Americans, let's all take a minute to sit back and take in a fresh breath of solid gold freedom and free choice........(inhale).......................(exhale)........Very nice....
Now it's been a few years since my passport has been stamped, and for good reason. My career has taken off in recent months and years, and with that has added responsibilities; I am engaged to the most amazing woman on the planet and have spent 2010 planning to and subsequently moving to the East Coast, and have since realized that I need to finish paying for the trips that I have thoroughly enjoyed in the last 5 years before traveling again and then hopefully start my own family.
However, 2011 is my year. I just know it. I can feel it in my bones that Lauren and I will be handing over our passports together at Norfolk International Airport and jetting off...........somewhere!
So why travel? Why is that such a huge goal for me in 2011?
2 Reasons - let's break them down together shall we?
1 - Traveling is in our bones - Americans have never settled with standing still. We are a people that are on the go, not satisfied, and always looking for the best photo to snap, most original souvenir to purchase, or to hear the most exotic spoken accent. I for one, enjoy going to faraway places to simply get LOST. Not like the tv series, but simply to lose touch with my current reality.
Call it what you want: turning off your smart phone, leaving your laptop at home, and not knowing who won the Super Bowl until a week after it's been done and dusted. I've done this a handful of times in my life and have realized that I am most happy when I am left simply alone with my thoughts and senses. And now I plan on sharing that with my future wife.
2 - Magical Feeling - There is something simply magical about packing a small bag, hopping on a plane, and going somewhere in this vast world where no one is waiting for you at the other end of the flight, and you're not quite sure where your head is going to rest that night.
I once was in London and was ready to move on to a new location in my current journey and so I packed up and took the tube to Heathrow. I walked right up to the first check-in desk which was a British Airways, asked for the next available flight to anywhere in Europe for under $150 one-way. The young man behind the desk tapped away at his computer and informed me that I would be traveling to Edinburgh, Scotland 40 minutes from now from gate G23. I didn't know anyone there, but I just went. Through some amazing conversations with people sat around me on subsequent planes, trains, and buses over the next 5 hours, I ended up staying with the Illaffe Family for 3 nights outside of Inverness, Scotland, and getting to know their family members and what life was like in northern Scotland.
It was purely magical and I desire that feeling again greatly, and thus it has made my Top 5 list, and look forward to writing a blog about the upcoming trip sometime in the new year!
Stay tuned tomorrow for #2 on my list of "Top 5 Goals of 2011"!
Finish With Action,
Bill
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