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The Importance of Travel
Get out of your comfort zone.
Five weeks ago, I was in beautiful Salem and Boston, Massachusetts. I was there on my own for three days with a lot on my personal agenda. I roamed several old cemeteries, held almost-400-year-old books (squee!), visited ancestral sites, and wandered the Freedom Trail. I logged many walking miles and navigated the Boston subway/commuter rail system. I stayed in a haunted hotel that I can only afford during the off-season and sat on ‘my’ boulder in the sea as the tide slowly came in. In short, I filled up my soul for a couple of months. (I really want to get away again now, but I have to wait 82 more days until my next big trip.)
Travel and being around something different changes me. It fills in missing pieces, it makes my brain process new journeys and new ways of doing things. I love to know how people in other places live, work, exist. Seeing the garbage boat cruise by on an early Venice morning absolutely made my day. Walking the colonial streets that my ancestors knew or having a drink 50 feet from the Pantheon are experiences that stoke the fire to explore. Even though I live in a safe suburban neighborhood with wonderful neighbors, I get very tired of the suburban location. I find myself daydreaming more and more about new places to call home. Especially if they have universal health care and a good public transportation system. Make what…
