Wednesday, June 11, 2008

ode to craving constant motion

Hello my name is Stephanie and I have a problem.

I'm addicted to being anywhere but here.

In recent months, I have begun to think that I may have been suffering from some kind of brutal, unrelenting infection that has taken over my brain and made me feverishly mad. I fantasize of beaches, cities, and mountains, often fixating on these images over and over in a feverish state of mind. I will taken often brakes at work to check my kayak.com account to see if I could manage to squeeze in another quick weekend jaunt to friends or family scattered around the country.

After running or taking walks around the same neighborhood streets that I have been living in since I was an infant, I check for ticks, or perhaps traces of West Nile-any rational, tan gable piece of evidence to attribute my wildly advancing case of wanderlust.

I suppose someday I will tire of traveling. But not this year, not this age, not now. I am very proud to be upwardly mobile and thrilled that I have the means to pick up and just go (translation: I still live at home) where ever and whenever I please.

It's a cycle that thrills me to no end, the planning, the packing, the discovering of far away codes and customs, the sound of me describe where in New Jersey I'm from, and why I'm there, the sampling of different food and drink, and just the feeling so much more empowered because of the experience of "going there and doing that."

In a very "lie-on-the-leather-sofa-and-tell-me-your-problems" type of psycho-analytical exploration, I will hash into my lack of travel past that I think has directly effected my all-consuming travel present and future.

I would say that my willingness to explore has been in direct correlation to the rise in cost of a gallon of gasoline (that i have thusfar seen in my life).

I remember taking glimpses up at the signs when I was very young and a backseat passenger in my parent's Chrysler Plymouth van, seeing figures like .78 or .79 up atop a high sign while I whiffed the toxic fumes (which, by the way, to me always smelled good. What can i say, i've always been a very olfactory-oriented person)

Unfortunately, those trips were usually just around town or to the local shopping mall, and never really anywhere exotic. My first taste of long distance travel (that I can remember) came about in the summer between third and fourth grade and my family and I drove to Williams burg, VA. All I remember is a really long bridge, (maybe it spanned the Chesapeake?) and alot of fighting with my younger brother to keep the clunky car phone my dad insisted on carting everywhere with him on his side of the backseat.

Fast forward to college. Having not been outside of the time zone, and only been as far west as Shippensburg as a freshman,(tragic, i know) I guess it was fate that I would meet friends who were just as wander lustful as I soon became. There may not have been jet setting (hello public state school budgets!), but there were many a roadtrip, with some favorites including Vermont, Montreal, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Washington D.C., and Upstate NY.

Still, upon graduation from college, many friends of mine were dismayed to know that I had not been outside of the EST time zone. To remedy that, eight of my college friends and myself trekked off to Ireland last summer (see aforementioned posts for the break-down of that trip) and I can honestly tell you, ever since then, I have been going non-stop.

In an approximate 13 month time frame I have been to the following cities/places:
New York, NY (at least six time this year)
Toronto, Canada
Pittsburgh, PA
Buffalo, NY (once last May once this May)
Philadelphia, PA (alot of times too)
Washington D.C. (alot)
Dublin,Ireland
Miami, FL
Los Angeles, CA
San Diego, CA
Atlanta, GA (okay it was on a layover, but still it was HOTLANTA!!!)
Ft. Lauder dale, FL
Niagara Falls, NY (canada's side too)
Harrisburg, PA (not exactly glamorous i know, but still)
Burlington, VT (love love love)
Saratoga Springs, NY

And now, with a stretch of summer unfolded in front of me, (not to mention my economic stimulus check burning a hole in my wallet) I am at a crux: where to go next?

While my co-workers have their summer '08 plans set out for international cruises, trips to the Cape, and other exotic Island destinations, I sit in front of the weekly Sherman Travel Deals newsletter giddy with anticipation.

See the only bad thing about having this overwhelming sense of wanting to be anywhere but here is the doubt that creeps into my mind and manifests itself every time I plunk down my credit card for that flight, or that hotel, rental car, or whatever...perhaps i'm being too liberal with my goings and comings, maybe i should be focusing my mind and money and efforts on moving out of my parents house, on donating cash to a charity or instead be steadfast on focusing on where i'm at (who i am, all that psycho-babble bullshiest) in the present moment.

Yeah, all that, or I could go to Italy this summer with one of my best friends.

Which would you choose?

That's what i thought.

Ciao!

2 comments:

The Jerc said...

if you're looking for a good charity to donate said funds to, feel free to send it to your neighbor at work! (And I don't mean Geoff...)

Kyle Shenk said...

Hey, who says Harrisburg isn't glamorous?!?!?