Well, I've been thinking about travel (duh) and specifically what sparks my synapses and kick starts my adrenaline. It's the anticipation. For many tourists, the anticipation is what destroys them. They are so excited before leaving their home that they work themselves into a tizzy and can't sleep. These tourists usually burnout even before they even reach their destination...and then, there's "the letdown". "Is that it?" (Stonehenge); "It's not as big as I thought" (the Colosseum); "It's so dusty/dirty" (the Pyramids at Giza); "Why do they have to put sardines/olives on everything? I hate sardines!" (Sicily or just about anywhere in the Mediterranean) or my all time favorite, "Whaddya mean there is no a/c?" (pretty much everywhere). The world and its history are not a glossy 8x10s and, of course; weather rarely cooperates. It's gonna be hot, or cold, or windy, or rainy or dirty. Move on, expect it and adapt.
Touristy whining aside, for me, what gets my juices flowing is the anticipation right before you see something for the first time. Something magical in my mind's eye that I've only seen in pictures or on film will come to life around the next bend or through a small opening or over the rise. This is when I get turned on. I feel my pulse pick up and my hairs on my arms begin to prickle. I have to admit, I'm almost nervous. The walk up to it....I feel I need to run just to see it a half second sooner. It seems so important, so worthwhile, so life-altering. That is how travel lives within me.
I thought we would take a few "Walks" together over the next few weeks or months and hopefully I'm literate enough that you may experience some of the same passion and adrenal rushes I do. Some of the places we may visit are: Walking up to the Acropolis, Walking into Petra, Walking the Strand in London and Historic Paris. I may include other magical travel moments if this project goes as I hope it will.
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