Being Called from Afar

Last week Iko and I were in North Carolina, in January we were cruising (see 50th anniversary cruise, below), last weekend I was in Japan, later this year I'll be going to VFW conventions In Yakima, WA, and Pittsburgh, PA, in between son Glenn and I will spend three weeks in Vietnam and Laos and then in the fall Iko and I will travel to Japan again for sightseeing and to attend the fifty-year memorial for her parents. Sometime a little later this year I'll make at least one more trip to North Carolina and in November we're scheduled to spend a week in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.

I sometimes wonder what it is about travel that appeals to me so much. When I was in the Army, at first I thought it was a natural tendency that anyone in strange surroundings, or better yet, in a foreign country, would want to get out and observe their surroundings and take in the differences in customs and cultures. But, no, I soon found out there were lots of guys who would just as soon stick close to the base, go to work, go to the mess hall, go to the club and go to bed. There were even some who complained bitterly about being forced to be away from home in this "hellhole."

The first time I observed this attitude the "hellhole" in question was Southern Japan! In fairness I guess I should say this was in the early sixties before Japanese cuisine and culture was much appreciated by the majority of Americans, but what a wasted opportunity, to be living next door to an ancient culture and not even give it a second glance.

Over the years of Army travel I learned that this was not an aberration and perhaps not even the most egregious example. I have seen people living in close proximity to amazing tourist attractions who decline to go have a look for what seem to me to be absurd reasons.

I don't claim to have access to universal truth. All I can say is what works for me. I enjoy staying home watching the almost daily change in the seasons, the different points on the horizon where the sun appears and disappears each day, the pleasure of making or eating a new recipe and the heightened awareness of surroundings and people as I sometimes take the bus through downtown Seattle.

But all this pales (for me) in comparison to the sense of anticipation I feel when I plan a new adventure or set off to the airport or step outside the hotel in a new place. What new experience lies in store tomorrow? What new contrast will I see to the standard routines of home? What novel approach to life lies hidden round the next corner?

Not to say there aren't interesting and sometimes different things to do around home and the comforts of home are hard to deny, but the call of the wild (or even the tame) in a different part of the world is hard for me to resist.