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Monday, March 7, 2011

The Travel Bug

As anyone who knows me is surely well aware, I have, what we call in the business, the "Travel Bug". However, I find this to be a rather inaccurate term for my condition. "Bug" in this case referring to cold like symptoms rather than a colloquial term for an insect (I assume). Indeed, I believe a better term would be the "Travel Herpes." Because, in my case at least, it is incurable, it flares up seemingly at random, and is highly contagious. I caught it during my first trip abroad by myself to Cambridge in 2005 and has broken out at least once annually since. And though it subsided a bit after my trip to Thailand, I can already feel it coming back as strong as ever. I can already make out the symptoms: a longing to travel anywhere anytime, constant reading of travel guides, researching flight prices to trips I by no means could afford to take, itching skin, and of course a burning sensation when I pee. Some quick thoughts on places I've been looking into going, some much more plausible options than others (although none are actually possible anytime soon):

Ecuador:
Hooray for having friends abroad. I have a friend teaching english in Quito until this summer, that's really all the excuse I need to travel somewhere.
Spain 1-Camino Santiago:
Dream trip #1. Yes, I will do this trip. And Barry will join me. We just have to figure out when. And it would be really nice if we could ever figure out a summer schedule that allowed us both to do it. Then again, it is a trip that, as planned, will take more than a month to do.
Tanzania:
Dream trip#2. Again, I don't know when but somehow someday I'm going to climb Mt Kilimanjaro. I've even researched and compared various touring companies for this and picked out my favorite. I've budgeted and scheduled this trip, all I need to make it happen is about 4 or 5 thousand dollars. That's all.
Mexico:
Spring break in Cancun! Haha, yeah right...Seriously though, I've found some very cool adventure tours of the Yucatan peninsula. I'd love to spend a couple weeks in Mexico visiting Mayan and Aztec ruins and the interesting baroque and modern architecture of Mexico City.
Uzbekistan:
I have a friend who is expected to serve with the Peace Corps starting later this year. All she knows so far is that she'll be in Central Asia. If she's in Uzbekistan, I'll come visit her. Kajikistan or Turkmenistan? Meh.
California:
So its not abroad but of course I still have plenty of family in California and there are still lots of places in that state I'd love to visit and hike, especially in the north, which I've never before seen.
Tibet:
My father has been wanting to travel to Tibet for the last few years and as he has said, he wants to go before he "gets too old." This would be the easiest trip to manage because, similar to my trip to Peru, he would be more or less in charge of the whole thing.
Spain 2-Basque Country:
If I find my way to Spain but without the time or money for the Camino Santiago, I'd at least love to visit my ancestral roots in rolling green hills of the Pais Vasco.
Quebec:
One of the easier trips I could manage this year would be a long drive or a short flight to Quebec (how old do you have to be to rent a car in Canada?). At the very least I want to see the Old Town(e) of Quebec City, maybe Montreal, and maybe...whatever else is in Quebec.
Italy:
I had an incredibly vivid dream a few nights ago where I was back in Rome. I left my apartment, walked down the hill of Via Aurelia, turned left down the narrow street leading to the southern edge of St Peter's portico, out the mouth, across the Ponte Vittorio Emmanuelle II, down the street of the same name, turning right down an alley into the open Campo dei Fiori. I had a vision of every detail of the life in Rome I lived almost five years ago. I think I need to go back.

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