A to Z - "T" is for Travel

Since I am so 'stressed' as my last post mentioned. I need to refocus on getting away from it all!

Travel.

You've read my bucket list, most of my travel plans include the sea and the sand. Any water will do, as I want to do some simple boating as well. A nice forested park with a large lake and some hiking trails in a pinch, but ideally, a getaway is a long anticipated event in which I can leave it all behind for a length of time.

I have 2 concerns, the dog and the culture shock.

Maybe by not having anyone willing to take care of feeding the dog for a length of time, I have procrastinated on really going for a long vacation. Maybe it's that when we talk about it, the hubby and I ultimately end up with some other reason, more financial than pet-related, not to go.

Either way,  the big travel plans have never some to fruition.

Then there is the culture shock of being in a different place with different foods, plants, dangerous insects, accents, mannerisms, and sticker shock. I live in a part of the country with a lower standard of living, so things cost a bit less. Traveling to a bigger place where incomes are higher means everything is priced higher. But enough about money, the culture is just completely different.

Not that different is bad. Far from it. It's just uncomfortable. When you stay in one place your whole life, dreaming big, you often forget those minute details that make a place foreign and not home. When you picture yourself there, you don't picture those cultural and regional things you didn't know existed that make the area distinctly 'not-home'.

These are easy concerns to overcome and deal with. If there is a will, or a plan, there is a way. Embracing a new place can be enlightening. The dog can be boarded if need be. The vacation can be done.

Still, the idea remains daunting, like staring at the open space blow your feet before you jump.

So I am watching Travel documentaries and learning what I can about places that make them seem more universally welcoming and less daunting.

Then I make some more lists of dream destinations. :) If you can think it...



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Moments Like These

Day 24: What Makes You Smile

Random moments when the 3 1/2 year old looks at me, sighs and says "I Love You!" then gives me a kiss. What did I do to deserve this?

A clean house.

An organized desk.

Sunshine, but not when it's snowy and reflects into your eyes making you blind, but rather when it's 78 and breezy.

Trips to someplace new, or someplace fun. I enjoy anticipating something with excitement. Who doesn't? It's like Christmas!

Christmas!

Satirically funny movies. Like The New Guy or Drop Dead Gorgeous.

And lastly, laying by the fire with hubby. :)


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Highs and Lows

Day 17: Your Highs and Lows of the Past Year

January
Highs: We just moved into our house!! Biggest, most awesome high ever. Found a new daycare, began applying for teaching positions for next year with optimism, Son started playing indoor soccer, having crawlspace repaired and sump pump installed

Lows: illness, made a lot of phone calls about house, learned 1/2 days subbing was fruitless

February
Highs: Took family out to Red Lobster in thanks for helping us with house; took son to his bookfair; had Valentine's lunch at my Mom's; started working at a middle school for 3 weeks; bought items for house; boys' beds, shelving, storage cabinets, got a new camera; went out of town to Mall for a fun shopping trip

Lows: power out for a week, got in fight with home warrantee company, van's engine blew

March
Highs: Got to stay working at school for 3 more weeks, then sub; picked up my 2nd doggie and made him a home here

Lows: Son decides he is not really into soccer, I make him go anyway

April
Highs: Sis-in-law's baby shower is a blast; I sub a lot; last soccer game; filled out more job apps for next school year in hope; planted flowers; weather was nice for son's birthday; published in Eclectic Flash

Lows: feel guilty about buying new office chairs

May
Highs: Family went to Zoo; got a recommendation letter; planted flowers for my Mom; bought my car; found out my sis was pregnant

Lows: hubby quit his job

June
Highs: hubby gets new job; took kids to small fair; interview went great; swam with kids; took them to library to kickoff summer learning; did some more gardening in front of house; published the porch book with my aunt; went to Holiday World theme park; had a fun VBS; went to Nashville, IN artist colony

Lows: not working, though I enjoy it, it strains the budget.

July
Highs: Lots of family get togethers for the 4th; laundry room painted, floored, and new appliances; went to the 4-H fair; started ficly nominations for book; went to a big Mall, but it turned out not a shopping place for us

Lows: back to paycheck by paycheck living by end of month, stopped going to the library functions, but still for books, it got so hot, had to put dogs in garage during the day

August
Highs: took boys to Children's Museum, saw Bill Nye, babysat my nieces and nephew, back to school, voting on ficly book canceled and all nominations included; friend sent me gift of brand new book I had to cancel my pre-order of!

Lows: rejected for assistance, but it was their error, had to fight them; no school job

September
Highs: straightened out assistance issue, but had to wait on other department to mail; self-published poetry book and snippet of my micro fiction collection to generate sales

Lows: tried to get a job, but it was filled by transfer; subbed very little

October
Highs: finally got funds in; went to covered bridge festival (for socks, they were out of boys socks) and had our favorite 6 dollar meal; had 1st weekend ALONE in years!; ficly book done and ready for order, had a good time trick-or-treat-ing

Lows: very little subbing, began to apply for other jobs, no luck

November
Highs: held a practice turkey fry; had lots of family thanksgiving celebrations, even went to see my grandma; paid for ficly book sales, as well as my own microfiction book

Lows: began to get sinus infections; felt very depressed about not having job, applied for college, but decided if I went back, I'd go local instead of online

December
Highs: Christmas, especially giving gifts; Oldest son's first new year watching ball drop; designed and built a doghouse for new doggie in one evening; Christmas card and gift from Australia;

Lows: not much work, especially with winter break in there; lots of illness; hubby's truck broke, but we fixed it; the furnace quit, so we had to fix it; it was so cold, had to put the dogs in the garage overnight.

And you have to wait for my update on THIS month. :)




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Home

Day 13: Somewhere You'd Like to Move or Visit

I've always been in love with the idea of 'Home'. Home is where the heart is. I love every one of the seasons in their own right and am glad I live where I can witness them.

Once, after a long trip, I remember noticing how the land changed and began to feel more like home. There was something about the trees that grew in the right clumps, the land that had the right amount of hill and dale. Maybe my body knew it was the right height above sea level, or the right magnetic distance from the North Pole. Or perhaps my mind interpreted all these things inside the knowledge that I was almost home. Whatever it was, I love my corner of the world.

But I'd like to visit lots of places!

I want to swim in the ocean, though I bet it is lot like the wave pool at the waterpark. (They even use saltwater!) Maybe take a surf lesson.

I want to see the desert with adobe churches and lizards. Maybe swing by the Grand Canyon and visit a western ghost town.

I want to heft a gigantic volcanic rock and pose for a picture like I'm super buff.

I want to visit a lighthouse.

I want to stay at a castle, admire the stonework, and take pictures of sheep herders crossing the road with their flock.

I want to get my hair dredded and listen to a steel drum band.

I'd like to visit the Holy Land. Egypt, Greece, and Rome would be neat too.

Would I make it to New Zealand, Australia, or Japan? I don't know. The thought of being so far from home is kind of intimidating. I'd have to be sure there was nothing to worry about back home to feel free enough to embark upon a long journey.

There's a world of experiences out there, even the blunders of being a tourist, that I want to learn from. I'd like to take my family, to share these experiences with those I hold most dear.

But nothing feels like Home.

I could argue, as long as I have my hubby, my heart, I am home no matter what country we are in. (awwww) But Home to me includes family and security. I'd never feel completely secure far away from my loved ones.

So I'd visit, but not live in other places for long. I'd always wish for Home.


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