I love this scene. “A bit of madness is key”
When I tell people I want to travel full-time, one question I get asked is, where do I want to go? Like any good traveler, I echo the words of Susan Sontag, “I haven’t been everywhere, but it’s on my list.”
Once I tried to make a bucket list of trips I wanted to take, and I gave up because it was basically the whole world. (Maybe not Antarctica, but I wouldn’t rule it out!) And the more you travel, the more your travel list grows as you meet other people and hear their stories, so what’s the use of making a list? I’m not on the planet to get to the bottom of a list.
That’s not to say I don’t have any concrete ideas. Currently, I want to drive across Canada, starting in the spring at Butchart Gardens in Victoria, B.C. and traveling city to city until I end up in Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia in the fall.
I’d love to go to Mexico City and see all the culture and history, and ride the Medusa at Six Flags Mexico, one of the newer I-Box steel-on-top-of-wood roller coasters. I’m sure I would also need to add on a coastal side trip since most days I dream about being on a Mexican beach!
I realized recently that I have driven to three of the four corners of the continental United States–Key West, the farthest tippy tip of Maine, and Seattle complete with a cruise ship to Alaska–so I certainly need to head towards San Diego sometime soon.
I have a dream of living near one of my favorite places, Disney World, for a whole year and covering all the resorts and restaurants, experiencing all of the festivals, eating all the food! I have dreams of being able to eat my way around the Epcot Food & Wine Festival at least once.
Speaking of Disney, I’ve never been to Disneyland! I’d love to do a “California’s Roller Coast” trip, visiting theme parks and seaside amusements up and down California’s coastline, culminating at Walt’s place in Anaheim. And Disney has parks in Paris, Tokyo, Hong Kong, and Shanghai as well, all of which need visiting.
I’m slightly obsessed with this chronological timeline on the Historic Hotels of America website–can you imagine visiting each one of them in order, steeping yourself in all that history and luxury?
I’d love to spend a week just visiting the Louvre. I’d love to spend a month housesitting in Hawaii. I’d love to hop around the Greek islands, and climb around Angkor Wat, and visit a Christmas Market in Bavaria, and have you seen this hotel??
There is so much to see that I never know how to answer people when they ask. All of the things. I want to see all of the things!
“Every hundred feet the world changes”
― Roberto Bolaño, 2666
Wow, I actually haven’t read this blog post yet. I was flipping through your old posts and discovered a few I hadn’t read. I’ll be reading those after this. Traveling around the world does sound expensive, but hey, if it’s a calling, it’s a calling! I sure hope you get to see all those places and things. I like how you changed your life analogy from a boat to tracks. It makes sense in a clearer way. Roller coasters take you up big hills and down sharp falls, with unexpected jolts and dives. Some parts smooth, and sometimes upside down, but you can yell and scream with pure joy knowing everything’s under control. Yes, life is a hectic roller coaster that few people enjoy. I’m glad you’re taking the challenge to make your roller coaster a bit more enjoyable. Be free from desk-bound death!
Hooray! I’m glad you understand. I love you bunches!
that hotel! Wow. That reminds me: we were talking about the tallest building in Philadelphia and I looked it up. It’s the Comcast Center (www.comcastcentercampus.com). The tallest part, the skinny rectangle sticking up at the top is actually The Four Seasons (www.comcastcentercampus.com/four-seasons/). I can’t imagine being so high up with my fear of heights, but it looks pretty incredible!