Ramblin' Is Expensive Nowadays

Song of the Day: Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes by Paul Simon

It was suggested by my lovely friend Abbie that I write about travel today. So here goes. (Disclaimer: The following entry is going to make me sound whiny and ungrateful. I am neither. Just a wee bit thirsty for adventure).

My top 5 destination goals are as follows, in no particular order: Egypt, Tanzania, Vienna, New Zealand, and the American West. I'll delve into the Why of each one and try to keep it short.

Egypt: I love how Egypt is steeped in history. In America, our recorded history only goes back a few hundred years, so my mind is boggled a little when I'm presented with artifacts/monuments that go back THOUSANDS of years. Take a second and think about how many years a thousand is. Right? Damn.

I always liked mythology, both Greek and Egyptian. I love how human all the gods tended to be, and how devoted the humans were anyway. Sometimes I hear about the "perfect" God nowadays and I can't help but think, how can I possibly trust or relate to a perfect being? He can never understand me fully. And the argument is "Yes he can, he's PERFECT." Okay, fine, but if the assumption is that said perfection means he's never made a mistake, he can not--in an empathetic, firsthand way--understand and forgive mine. I don't know, a "perfect" god just makes me very uncomfortable. But I digress.

Ancient Egyptian culture is just such a 180 from everything I know, and I find that exciting. The reverence, the superstition, the "how the FUCK did they build something that big??" It's all fascinating.

^Seriously though. How??

Tanzania: Not gonna lie. The Lion King. I want to see Mount Kilimanjaro and the grassland that lies at its feet. I'm so in love with the idea of the wild side of Africa. From everything I've seen, there is an unrivaled spirit in Africa--in the land and the people--despite how very fucked up parts of it are, and I want to experience that. Maybe it's the naive white girl talking but...Africa, you know?

Vienna: Mozart. The king of "Hey, look what I can do!" Vienna is the Mecca of classical musicians and I can definitely feel its pull. While I definitely have a run-around-barefoot-pretending-to-be-a-lion side, I also have a side that enjoys classiness and culture. In very small doses, of course =p But to hear a symphony in Vienna...yikes. Plus I've been to a small bit of Europe (for which I am very thankful) and would love to see more of it.

New Zealand: I fell in love with New Zealand after watching The Lord of the Rings. Watching the films it's easy to think that they enhanced the landscape, but then you see the behind-the-scenes footage and it's just as beautiful. It seems so hard to find truly wild places, and New Zealand seems to be one of those places. I'd just really love a 360-degree view instead of the one I get through my television screen. It's like time forgot to keep going in places; how could there not be adventures happening?

And at last, we come to The American West: I'm not sure when my fascination with America itself started. Maybe it was when I watched "Wild America" all those years ago (I still love that movie). But America fascinates me in its variation. Any kind of landscape you want, you can probably find in the States! The land varies so much and the people right along with it. And something about the West captivates me. I've seen the coast (as far south as San Francisco), but there are other states that qualify as the West, where the gold and cowboys happened: Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, all that good stuff. I'm interested in that period of America's history (although I find just about all of America's history interesting and wish I could retain it better). To be fair, I'm aware that I like the romanticized version: the wagon caravans, cowboys and their horses sleeping under the stars before there was light pollution, main street shootouts where the good guy almost always wins, guitars and harmonicas and the ability to ride wherever the hell you felt like riding. Back to the Future's version of the West. But, like stereotypes, legends are rooted in truth. The landscape in those places inspires the imagination in the direction of cowboys because of how wild and beautiful and lonely it is. The Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, Arches, I want to see them all. In a car, not a plane. And for all its romance, it reminds us of the ugly bits, too. Like when pioneers arrived and said, "'S'cuse us, we know you've been living on this land forever, but white people are here now. You can have this playpen of land. Have fun."

I'm not going to whine about not having the money to go to these places. I'm not even two decades into my life yet. Barring early death, I have time. There's something to be said for the there-may-not-be-a-tomorrow-carpe-the-hell-out-of-this-diem attitude, but there is also comfort in knowing one has a bit of time. Money can be saved. Poor travels are more organic and authentic travels anyway. In the meantime, as cliche as it sounds, there are adventures to be had right here. So much adventure is in the imagination, and mine has a hair trigger.

I couldn't even pick one stanza from this for today's Relevant Lyrics.

I can settle down and be doin' just fine
Til I hear an old train rollin' down the line
Then I hurry straight home and pack
And if I didn't go, I believe I'd blow my stack
I love you bay, but you gotta understand
When the Lord made me
He made a Ramblin' Man.

Some folks might say that I'm no good
That I wouldn't settle down if I could
But when that open road starts to callin' me
There's somethin' o'er the hill that I gotta see
Sometimes it's hard but you gotta understand
When the Lord made me, He made a Ramblin' Man.

I love to see the towns a-passin' by
And to ride these rails 'neath God's blue sky
Let me travel this land from the mountains to the sea
'Cause that's the life I believe He meant for me
And when I'm gone and at my grave you stand
Just say God called home your Ramblin' Man. -Ramblin' Man, Hank Williams

P.S. I think this post exemplifies that "idealist" in me that personality tests are always squawking about. I have an imagination, so sue me.