Traveling = me

Me in London, England, 1976

I have never written down my travel history. I know which countries and cities I've visited, but I don't remember when or in what order. I've been trying to go back to put places into some order, but I still have gaps! I thought it was important to figure this out, because each trip has had something new to teach me. There have been many experiences that have brought me to this place -- travel is what makes me me.

It took me a lot of time and trouble to figure out how to travel in a way it fit my life. I knew I only had a few weeks every year because of my job. I also had to schedule trips that guaranteed that I would be home on a certain date because of my job. I knew I liked to discover places on my own, but I also knew I enjoyed meeting like-minded people and liked having transportation and hotels booked for me for part of my trip. Being a single woman, I was a bit leery of going out alone at night in some places and traveling with a group opened up a lot more opportunities to discover the night life, an essential part of many cities!

The OAT group was a good beginning, but didn't really work for me. Through Estelle, I found the companies I have traveled with ever since that African trip. They are based in Europe, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. They limit the group to 15 or fewer and the people are from many different countries and encompass all ages. Because of these trips, I have good friends all over the world, and, because of email and Facebook, have kept in contact with most of them.

I have read a lot of books and blogs written by "nomads", people who travel full time, most of them making a living from writing about their travels (some more successful than others). I have been tempted by that life, but I don't have that much courage. I also have wonderful friends and a fabulous sister, who I would miss very much. So, I have become a nomad, part time, until I have the opportunity and the means to make traveling a larger part of my life. It works for me very well for now, but I dream of having the freedom to stay somewhere open ended, not having to return on a specific date. And, in a few years, I will.