It’s a valid question and deserves some good thought. Travel is an important component of many people’s lives. I’m referring in this piece about voluntary travel, the type of travel some folks have turned into an almost competitive sport.
Is true travel all about ticking off our many destinations? Is it all about posting a myriad of photos across social media platforms? Is it about experiencing different ways of life in order to enrich our own? I have no answers.
At the present I find myself in a “no travel” existence. I haven’t done any meaningful travel in a few years. Why, you ask? Simple. I don’t feel well enough and, also, I am responsible for an elderly parent who is my only other family member.
Why do I travel? For the simple reason that I like to experience the experience. What does that mean? I love to see the beautiful things as much as anyone else but what moves me most is observing how life is lived elsewhere…whether it’s ten miles from home or ten thousand, and all that is in between.
The sea calls to me relentlessly. I yearn for the rhythm of the waves, the tanginess of the salt air in my nostrils, the screeching of the gulls. I have been to the ocean in many different areas. Always I return to the sea in the Northeast, and mainly Cape Cod or Maine. Even though both have become popular tourist destinations, the appeal of the beach coupled with quintessential New England small towns is what floats my boat.
For me, there’s nothing like visiting the beach in the evening after a day of sunning and swimming. Though there’s activity, it’s not the teeming movement of a crowded beach. It’s the epitome of leisure whether flying a kite, surf casting, shell hunting, or just staring at the horizon. It’s the feeling of being a tiny entity in a vast realm. And it’s the warmth of comfort in past memories and traditions.
In my mind I can feel myself cloaked in the sunset on Cape Cod Bay. The tide is out and a person could seemingly walk forever through the tidal plains. I can feel myself in a kayak, gliding through salt marshes. I can feel the buoyant effect of the salt water as I swim away from the beach.
Most of the buddies with whom I traveled are gone. And I feel I’ve gotten to a point where I’m not sure I want to go through the process of discovering others. And yet, I want to go. There’s a great deal of the past pulling at me and I know that when I return, it won’t be the stuff of my memories. It will be a new level of appreciation for the current (no pun intended) ocean culture and climate, impacted by the present day. The visceral element is a constant. The tactile surroundings are an ever-changing canvas.
“If you spend an evening, you’ll want to stay/Watching the moonlight on Cape Cod Bay…”. excerpt from “Old Cape Cod, sung by Patti Page
“Somewhere beyond the sea/Somewhere waiting for me/My lover stands on golden sands…”. excerpt from “Beyond the Sea” by Bobby Darin. The Romantic part of me will never stop hoping and dreaming. It’s a great deal of what keeps me going.
Stories Are For Eternity 