The journey is the destination… buy some shoes in Istanbul
I grew up very poor and for us travel meant driving from the coast of NC to my grandfather’s farm in Knoxville every few years. I loved culture, music, and food and that love was fed, encouraged, and placated by the fact that I was growing up surrounded by different cultures and countries all brought to my doorstep courtesy of the USMC. I longed to travel to see the places I learned about, instead I married someone from a far off land, who as my luck would have it had no desire to journey beyond the US (except to visit his family in Toronto - my first international experience). So instead we travel all over the US, I have been to all but six states, that itch to explore beyond the US remained an itch still not scratched.
My mother, who also had never been outside the US wanted to have a mother daughter 60/40 trip to Ireland (she turned 60 the same year I turned 40) . Just before I turned 40 I got a divorce and my mom got sick (with cancer but we didnt know that for another year). I decided to take the opportunity and celebrate my pending divorce with a trip. I decided that since I didn’t know if I would be going abroad again I decided to go to the number 1 place on my bucket list, Istanbul. A few days before I was to leave on my trip I received a card from my mom with some money in it, the note said “the journey is the destination… buy some shoes in Istanbul.” In the 11 years since I have turned 40 I have visited over 13 countries (not nearly enough) and have mentally moved to 5 of them. My mom passed never being able to make her trip and to this day I haven’t either (not sure why as I do wish to visit Ireland maybe I will go when I turn 60 in her honor). After mom passed I made a promise to myself that I would make at least one international trip a year, a promise I have more or less kept (covid put a halt to that for a bit).
When you get a tattoo they tell you to not be surprised if you end up getting more as it can be addictive. No one ever warned me that travel would be my tattoo. I currently live in a small town, a little over an hour away from the nearest “city” and here, I have found myself in a place where most people seldom journey beyond the borders of the state let alone internationally. I , on the other hand, need to travel. It renews my soul and I feel stagnate and trapped if I don’t travel. Its as if I am pinning to find the place where I belong, the place that feeds my soul (and my belly). I frequently get asked about my trips and my favorite places and why. So the next few posts I am to remember longingly my past trips as this year looks like I might not be able to travel abroad. Join me as I dust off the photos and daydream of adventures past.
*again - just like a diary - one take no edits.
