The Great Affair

"I travel not to go anywhere, but to go.  I travel for travel's sake.  The great affair is to move."

-Robert Louis Stevenson

I love to go, and just as much as loving to go, I love to plan to go.  I have a stack of travel books with broken spines and dog-eared pages.  I don't know when this love affair started.  We had two vacation destinations when I was a child: Myrtle Beach and Opryland.  I do remember thumbing through Mom's Myrtle Beach book, looking at the pictures of the beach and the hotels.  I remember looking through Daddy's big road atlas, though I'm not sure why he had one since he was known for getting lost everywhere he went.  I would spend hours looking up countries in our set of World Book Encylcopedias. 

Myrtle Beach - http://www.myrtlebeachvacationpackages.org/

I have been able to expand my list of destinations as I've gotten older, but I still find joy in going someplace just for a night.  I like to open all the drawers in a hotel room.  I like to look at the local city guide.  I like to sit down and decide what I'm going to do the next day.  I love the feelings of excitement and anticipation that keep a smile on my face the closer to departure day. 

Once at the location, the affair continues.  It may be in revisiting old favorites, like riding the Tower of Terror at Disney World again, or smelling the salty air of the ocean at Myrtle Beach, or it may be in seeing something new.  It doesn't take much for my mind to recreate the first moment I saw Big Ben in London.  I stepped out of the Tube station just as the bell was chiming 11 PM.  It took my breath away. 

Picadilly Circus, London, 2010

I can thank a former teacher for that moment, and my first view of dazzling Picadilly Circus.  Mr. O'Neil was familiar enough with London that he knew which Tube exit to use for the most impact.  I now have the opportunity to share my great affair with students, introducing them to new cultures and seeing their eyes when they glimpse something for the first time.  I love experiencing things through them as much as I love my own experience.

Rialto Bridge - http://www.shannonforsale.com/world_cruise.htm

My next student trip is June 2013 to Italy.  I'll get to revisit an old friend in Venice.  I'll gaze at St. Mark's Basilica and watch the pigeons in the square and hopefully relocate that little hole in the wall where I had an excellent lunch.  I'll learn new things about that old friend by taking the time to go inside St. Mark's and finding the Rialto Bridge.  I'll probably get to stick my toes in the Adriatic Ocean again and have delicious gelato from that shop in Lido de Jesolo.  I'll get to meet new friends in the city of Florence, visiting the Duomo, and Rome with the Colleseum and St. Peter's Basicila.

Chickamauga Battlefield, Chattanooga, TN 2010

Each trip I take just gives me the taste for more.  It was just last year that I collected dust in Ireland and England, but 2013 is far away.  I've spent a weekend in Chattanooga, visiting the Chickamauga Battlefield, but I'm going through travel withdrawals.  My great affair is calling me.  I don't know where I'll answer the call.  I've been wanting to visit Washington, D.C. again, but I would love to enjoy some fresh seafood at Myrtle Beach again or hug Mickey Mouse at Disney World.  Wherever I go, I'll find something new to love.

If you'd like to start or continue a love affair with travel, check out my trip to Italy at http://www.eftours.com/, Tour Title "Grand Tour of Italy."