Some people might interpret this as a way to escape my day-to-day life and small town. Nothing could be further than the truth!
I was a reader long before I was a writer. Books took me to places I had never been and left me with a desire to see what was in this huge world around me. I used to listen to my parents tell stories of their youth in other places and my dad telling of the places he'd been while in the Army Air Corps. I learned early on that the world was not just me, my house, and the space immediately around me. There was so much more out there....
Traveling was not something I did a lot of when I was a kid. Yearly trips to visit family in Roswell, NM or Chihuahua, Mexico were about the extent of it. Mostly it was because my parents were not big on traveling; they pretty much lived all their lives in the same place. But the idea stuck with me that "when I grew up", traveling was something I wanted to do!
And when I got married in 1988, our honeymoon took us to Niagara Falls, NY and Washington, D.C. You have to remember that, until then, I'd never been any further east than Carlsbad Caverns!
Paul and I have traveled a lot... for me anyway! We've been to Rome (Italy) and on a cruise to Cozumel. We've made a lot of trips here at home in the U.S. Spent a week in Alaska (bad idea in the wintertime for a desert rat!) Colorado is a favorite place to visit. I love northern New Mexico and visit at least once a month. Arizona is another state I like exploring. I'd like to travel back east and spend more time there. I finally got to Las Vegas (Nevada) this past January (cross that off the bucket list!) And of course, there was this last fall:
In Key West, Florida with Paul and wading in the Mexican surf in Cozumel!
I bring back with me a little of each place I visit, locked in a memory. Sometimes all it takes is a word or a sound, a scent, a taste, and I'm right back there, reliving a moment of my life. I'm happy to say that most of them are absolutely wonderful. I don't remember any truly disastrous travels.
Maybe it's because I'm truly happy at home... in fact, I'm happy wherever I am! I like to look at life as a never-ending adventure, whether at home or down the street or across the globe. There's always something new to see, to learn, to try out. So whether my next exotic meal comes from a restaurant on a Caribbean Island or from my own kitchen, I know the most important thing is to have fun no matter where you are!
Tell me where you've been and where you'd like to go!
Great blog.
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