Debugged


The older I get, it seems, the less I want to travel. I don't know if this is because I just don't like to be uncomfortable or inconvenienced the way I am when I travel, or because it's lost its novelty. I can't help but think it also has a lot to do with the terror threat, the huge pain in the ass it is now to fly, and overall obnoxiousness of other passengers. Service isn't so great anymore either. What happened to the food? Great, I get a snack pack containing exactly six pretzels. Oh, and I can pay for extra leg room, the extra four inches that would actually allow me to sit comfortably? Don't get me started on the crying babies and wild children.

Enough whining about airplanes.

When I say travel, I mean purely recreational travel, not travel as an end to a goal, like to see relatives or to do business. I've been to Tennessee this year for a funeral, and to Colorado to visit friends and show my husband my home town, but I don't consider that to be vacation per se. The last purely hedonistic vacation I went on (aside from weekend getaways) was my honeymoon to Germany. I had a great time. I had been to Munich before as a single girl, and this return visit was exponentially more fun. It helps that I speak a little German.

Anyway, I say in passing from time to time, to my husband or anyone else that will listen, hey, I'd love to see Venice sometime, or Spain, or Tahiti. In theory, it seems like a great idea to visit all these places, but in practice, I don't know if I really want to go. Hey, ten years ago, I would jump at the chance to travel just about anywhere that had potable water and indoor plumbing. Now, I have to be bribed just to go across the state line (a mere ten miles from here). Pathetic.

To make myself feel better about this, I have put some thought into some places I intend to see before I die. This list will probably change, but here what I came up with for now:

Hero's travel wishlist
(not in any particular order)

1. The Canadian Rockies
2. Japan
3. Seattle, Washington
4. Vienna, Austria
5. Hawaii
6. Montreal, Quebec
7. Jerusalem, Israel
8. Tuscany, Italy
9. St. Lucia (or comparable Caribbean island)
10. Greece or Montana. Either or.

Just in case you are interested:

Foreign countries I've been too

1. Mexico
2. Great Britain (incl. Scotland, Wales)
3. Ireland
4. Germany
5. Italy
6. Switzerland
7. Austria
8. Czech Republic
9. France