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). My travel journeys expanded to include NC, TN, TX, NYC, and Toronto.
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, and 40 states. My mom passed never being able to make her trip to Ireland 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 going 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.
