Hit the road

My daydreams these days are usually about travel to exotic destinations. They could be about possible future trips abroad or reminiscences about past trips that stick in my memory. When I was young, my parents never traveled far. We lived in a small state (Connecticut) and we occasionally would cross the state line into Massachusetts to visit someone. My parents never had the money or time to travel but my brothers and I all grew up to be travelers of various sorts.

One goes halfway around the world each winter to spend two months in Australia where there is no snow and he has friends. The other goes on multiple cruises each year for ten day trips, thoroughly enjoying the service onboard and Caribbean islands.

My husband and I have taken a number of bus tours to Japan, New Zealand and last year to England, Scotland and Wales. We enjoy the local guides telling us about the history of their parts of the world and sampling new foods and sights.

Daydreaming about past trips is also enjoyable. My memories of a paddle boat trip on the Columbia River is still vivid, especially going through the locks and seeing new scenery in the Pacific Northwest.
A trip I took with a friend to the Balkan countries brought a real understanding of the war there in the 1990s.

I’ve been fortunate to be able to have had these experiences and dream of returning to Scotland for a more leisurely trip or being able to do a hiking trip with a friend somewhere. To quote Joseph Rosendo quoting Mark Twain, ‘travel is fatal to bigotry, prejudice and narrow-mindedness.” It’s certainly broadened my horizons.

— Oxnard15