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| Page Views: 3,850 | Going Solo- Lessons from the Road by goingsolo - last update: Oct 17, 2004 |
There and back again Are you lonely looking for yourself out there>Train Drops of JupiterThere's an inevitable sadness that sets in during the waning hours of a long-anticipated vacation. The knowledge that you're returning to humdrum reality and that rising each morning to the excitement of not knowing what the day brings will give way to awakening to the dull dread of predictably monotonous living. But we need these cycles in our lives in order for everything to balance. If you don't work, then you can't afford to travel. And not working would mean not fully appreciating the respite of the road.
People ask me how I can travel alone. Don?t I get bored? Or lonely? I have to smile at these questions because the first time I boarded a plane for a solo vacation I asked myself these same things. What if I?m completely alone and miserable? What if I feel like a total loser eating in a restaurant by myself? But that?s not what happens. In fact, it?s quite the opposite of what you?d expect.
There's a mental purging which takes place during a road trip, or soul vacation, if you will. Driving down a long stretch of road beneath blue sky and sunshine, windows open to let in the perfect day, radio playing U2 or Creed or whatever music inspires you as you cruise along to nowhere in particular, is as alive as it ever gets. As the odometer ticks off the miles and the landscape of mountains, trees or even mere interstate whizzes by, clarity is restored as stressful thoughts of to-do's and past do's and never-empty inboxes and never-there exes vanish into the cloudless sky or get swept through the isolated golden desert plain. Cruising onward, these constricting thoughts are replaced with the lighthearted knowledge that endless possibility exists around the next curve, at the upcoming fork in the road or within whichever place you choose to stop for the evening.
After a few weeks on the road, when its time to return home, I feel as if I have sufficiently recharged my mental reserves and can again tackle the vicissitudes of life. At times, I?ve found myself a bit road weary and ready to head back. But no matter how much you start turning for home, a part of you wants to continue the journey, pressing the accelerator and climbing up the steep winding mountain road or shooting straight ahead towards the verdant forest flanking both sides of an endless highway. Onward towards the future instead of southbound on a redeye.
At times I think I'm growing weary of solo travel. Though I've become quite adept at it, in some moments I wish I was more grounded and traveling with someone by my side. But, for now, the solo traveling continues. Its in my nature, I suppose. I can always seek company on my solo trips and have no trouble finding it. But the bottom line is that I'm very comfortable being alone. That's in my nature too, I suppose. I?m at peace with the fact that I may spend a lifetime traveling solo and always searching for what's around the next corner or at the end of the next stretch of road taken as a detour at an unfamiliar junction. But if that's how it is, then so be it. There's too much magic in the world to stay at home alone.
So where will I go from here? Home for now. I can't say what's next or even when. I?ve just finished ten days of driving solo through south central Alaska. Maybe next time it will be kayaking in Glacier Bay National Park, hiking the Fourteeners in Colorado or driving PCH 101 up the West Coast. As I sit and reflect while enjoying Alaskan Amber in a crowded bar in downtown Anchorage with twilight approaching both the city and my vacation, I don?t know the answer. All I know right now is that the next adventure is out there somewhere.
Are there lessons and morals to all this? I suppose so. Live and love your life fully and don't be afraid of either. Go places you've never been and while you're there do things you never imagined you would. Go well and travel. |
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goodfish Sun Nov 8, 2009 14:44 UTC
Still missing you, Girl - hope your birthday was a happy one and we'll hear from you soon! | Donna_in_India Sat Nov 7, 2009 17:12 UTC
Sending birthday greetings from India. Hope your birthday is great! | a2lopes Sat Nov 7, 2009 16:14 UTC
Happy birthday and many happy returns of the day. Greetings from Lisbon which is waiting for your visit | pchamlis Sat Nov 7, 2009 13:56 UTC
Hey hey sister Floridian, I see that it's your birthday? What do you have on the docket for today? I'll probably watch my beloved Seminoles get clobbered on TV tonight. :( Happy birthday from Tallahassee. |
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