Come Fly With Me

Fellow travelers, the new year is a perfect time to embark upon a bit of wanderlust -- whether actual or metaphorical, personal or vicarious. 

Grand Canal and Rialto Bridge, 2008

When my sister and her family first laid eyes on Venice two years ago, they burst into tears. Exhausted, emotional, and at the tail end of a whirlwind Italian journey, they were not prepared for the overwhelming vision of the timeless floating city. At that moment, their lives and perceptions of the world changed forever.

Me with dark hair in
Pharaonic times, 1986

When Missy told me this, I understood. I have also become teary-eyed over various travel experiences over the years. Ogling Picasso’s ceramics at the Museu Picasso in Barcelona, seeing ancient Egypt’s pyramids, and setting foot in front of Jerusalem’s wailing wall made my eyes mist up with tears of wonder and joy. 

Parthenon, 2006 -- my hair had 
turned white by the Greek Age

And then there were the culinary discoveries! Like marshmallows flavored with orange blossoms at the now-defunct Alain Ducasse restaurant in Paris. What American even knows that orange blossom-flavored marshmallows are a thing? I would not have made this sensorial discovery while sitting watching TV.

Onboard a flight in French Polynesia, 2008

Having epiphanies like these is one of the reasons people travel. Despite its expense and the degradation of airports, travel remains a core desire for me and, I imagine, most of you. The moments of transcendence make it worth getting through long lines and airport security. 

At the Baroque Karlskirche,
Vienna, c. 2008

 

Charles Bridge, Prague, 2008

Meaningful travel bombards us with stimuli and gives us no choice but to see the world anew. At its best, travel offers feelings we did not know we had in us. Like empathy.

Bellinis at Harry's Bar in Venice, c. 2008

This is true even for unexotic travel experiences. May 24, 2006 found me and Joe on our own trip to Venice; May 24, 2023's escapade took us to Detroit to see Janet Jackson in concert. 

Despite my many years of proximity here in Cleveland, I had never once been to the Motor City. I got a glimpse of the urban decay I had read about for years. Seeing it made me empathize with those living among the abandoned buildings and squalor. 

And we got to see that a favorite performer still has it.

Janet Jackson in Detroit, 2023

I still dream of seeing India and the Taj Mahal, revisiting Venice, and making it to Asia. This is probably not the year I will do any of that. But as I learned from Detroit, and from last October’s LA trip, the most unlikely places – even the urban jungle – can offer revelations. All I need is an open mind, a tank of gas, and Joe by my side.

For all that, some of my greatest flights of fancy have occurred right here at the kitchen table, where I sit writing this blog in the wee small hours of the morning (Sinatra again). Sometimes the mind travels first, and the body follows. I imagined us at Stonehenge long before we finally saw it in 2022.

At Stonehenge, 2022

As we dive headfirst into 2024, my New Year’s wish for all of you is to get a change in perspective, feel all the feels, and if you can, take a trip. Venice would be nice, but in a pinch, Detroit or even a bit of armchair travel just might do.

Snorkeling in Bora Bora, 2008

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