MAPPING A RETURN TO THE WORLD OF TRAVEL
You can run but you can’t hide—that is true. I’ve been mentally running since I closed out the year of 2016 with the Women’s March on Washington in January 2017. I’ve been running, through reading and movies and ridding myself of cable television, from the reality of the embarrassing and probably dangerous guy in the White House. Now it’s almost April and I’ve switched my head back to travel mode.
Which means:
- The energy wasted on dark thoughts of environmental disaster can be pushed a little way into the background—at least as the basis of nightmares—by dreams of far places.
- Instead of hearing the voice of narcissism personified (of the small-handed man from the tall building) I listen to real voices of documentarians, filmmakers, progressive allies—one might say the global voices of reason.
- Saving money and visiting the gym often is essential.
“I haven’t been everywhere, but it’s on my list.” said Susan Sontag. I scroll through travel quotations every so often and this is one of my favorites. Every time I realistically admit that I am too old and my finances too limited to reach all 197 or so countries in the world and think I’ve settled that issue forever, another possibility crops up. I’ll visit as many countries as Hillary Clinton, Secretary of State, I say—120—yes, I can do it!
I’ll accomplish that by traveling to all of the world’s neighborhoods–as in Eastern Europe or the Middle East or Southern Africa—or Southeast Asia this year maybe? Of course, to get to know any one of the neighborhoods, I will be forced to visit most of the countries therein. You see how these ideas trigger my latent OCD and obsession with maps.
Apparently I have very itchy feet. Once, on some lengthy trip I picked up Athlete’s Foot. My feet would itch like mad, I’d apply ointment, and all would be well — for awhile. Then I’d wake up in the middle of the night with the return of the most annoying and persistent itchiness imaginable. The only relief was more ointment. So when a lust for travel is referred to as “itchy feet” that’s quite apt—travel being the ointment for one particular itch—in my Mind? Brain? Soul? In my essential Me? The maps all over my apartment are the first step—the ointment has been ordered.
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- Writing area in kitchen.
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- NYT map, living room.
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- Spare bedroom.
Someone once said “an itch is best scratched than ignored” or did I make that up. See, you are inspirational. Thinking about my train travels and how I would like to travel most of the Amtrak lines….this may very well develop into a full blown itch.,