On My Way…

Well, if you are reading this column at 3pm on Friday, a mere few hours ago I landed in Warsaw, Poland after flying over the ocean all night – and hopefully sleeping while doing so.

Travel, obviously, has been on my mind. This week’s column is devoted to travel tidbits both amusing and profound.

When things go awry – and I’m sure they will – I’ll keep in mind these funnies.

“I haven’t been everywhere, but it’s on my list.” – Susan Sontag“Work, Travel, Save, Repeat.” – Unknown“When preparing to travel, lay out all your clothes and all your money. Then take half the clothes and twice the money.” – Susan Heller “Vacation calories don’t count. Right?” – Unknown“I want someone to look at me the way I look at a travel magazine.” – Unknown“I need six months of vacation, twice a year.” – Unknown“The worst thing about being a tourist is having other tourists recognize you as a tourist.” – Russell Baker

In the same vein, I recognize I may be – at some point in my journey – jet lagged or constipated or cursing the fact that I packed all the wrong things. I will try to remember how inspiring travel can be.

“Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore.” – Andre Gide“Remember that happiness is a way of travel – not a destination.” – Roy M. Goodman“The most beautiful in the world is, of course, the world itself.” – Wallace Stevens“Traveling – it leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller.” – Ibn Battuta“A person susceptible to ‘wanderlust’ is not so much addicted to movement as committed to transformation.”  – Pico Iyer 

My mother always told me that whatever I was feeling has been felt by someone else before. Hence I treasure these quotes from people far wiser than me:

“The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.” – Augustine of Hippo“Live life with no excuses, travel with no regret.” – Oscar Wilde“Once a year, go someplace you’ve never been before.” – Dalai Lama“People don’t take trips, trips take people.” – John Steinbeck“It’s not what you look at that matters. It’s what you see.” – Henry David Thoreau“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts.” – Mark Twain“Travel is about the gorgeous feeling of teetering in the unknown.” – Anthony Bourdain

And finally, I am so grateful that my husband Steven was able to take this trip with me:

“I would like to travel the world with you twice. Once to see the world. Twice, to see the way you see the world.” – Anonymous“It doesn’t matter where you are going. It matters who is beside you.” – Anonymous“What we find in a soul mate is not something to tame, but something wild to run with.” – Robert Brault“Go the distance. Couples who travel together are more likely to stay together and feel more connected.” – Anonymous“Here’s to all the places we went. And here’s to all the places we‘ll go. And here’s to me, whispering again and again and again and again: I love you.” – Anonymous

Keep Preserving your Bloom,