Going Once, Going Twice

I think it’s probably accurate to estimate that I have entered the fourth and final quarter of My Game of Life. So, with the finish line on the horizon, I’m evaluating my journeys—not just the trip from smooth to wrinkly skin, or the jaunt from childhood to grandmotherdom, either. I’m talking literal journeys—my travels in the world over the decades. Where have I been? Where am I going? (wait, I sound like James Stockdale! Remember his strange opener in the 1992 vice presidential debate: “Who am I? Why am I here?” Btw, poor Stockdale got a bum rap for what was most likely a pair of rhetoricals, not actual confusion. No, I know where I’ve traveled, and the list is not all that long.)

I have spent time in every state east of the Mississippi. Heading west, I’ve experienced Chicago and Minneapolis winter (surprise! Cold and snowy!), eaten Texas chili, Indian frybread tacos on a South Dakota reservation, and Dungeness crab on Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco. But while I have been to Hawaii and Alaska, I’ve never been to Idaho or Oklahoma. How will I feel on my deathbed, realizing it’s too late to do anything in Vegas that would stay in Vegas?

Similar gaps appear abroad. I’ve only been to two of the seven continents. Narrowing focus to Europe, my sad total is nine countries. At this point, while we do have an Asia trek on the calendar and, very optimistically, Africa in 2027 (Morocco for our 50^th anniversary), I most likely will never see the pyramids, or penguins in the wild. Even if health and moolah hold out, there is just too much planet and not enough time.

Among my friends are some true world travelers, whose country tally runs to 30 or more. Usually, they experience a place once, and well, and then move along to another. These are the same annoyingly perfect types who saved adequately for retirement, and do not have to choose between Greece and groceries.

Then there are the folks who prefer to re-visit the same few spots over and over (Ireland! Italy! Disney!)  They return to favorite Galway pubs and Florence museums and Magic Kingdom rides. If they had a billion bucks (maybe the people in the preceding paragraph could loan it to them), they’d still travel like homing pigeons. For them, familiarity breeds content.

I see both sides, and actually am ON both sides in a way (I have summered at the Delaware Shore for the past 43 years). Apart from that habitual locale, though, I think I’d prefer to add more new places to my story for as long as I’m able. That may mean London was a once and done for me, ditto Vienna, Prague and Rome. Sorry, amazing cities, you’ve had your turns; I need to check Taipei, Bangkok and Marrakesh off the bucket list!

I’m going to be a speaker next year at a conference in Iowa. SO excited! I haven’t been there before!