A World In Reach

Twenty years ago my Dad brought me into a whole new world. It was magical and exciting and foreign. It was a world of travel! My Dad is a trucker and I got to go along for a lot of trips, I got to see new places and sometimes do new things. We didn't often get to stop, we usually had to just drive through but that was good enough. We would drive through small towns and around and through huge cities. I got to drive around the outskirts of Las Vegas during the day and at night- it was amazing to see all the lights. I got to come from a top a large hill at night looking down onto the city lights of somewhere in Montana. I got to see huge statues that lit up in the mountains so that villagers could find their way. Among all these things I got to see, what was most exciting to me was pretending! I could imagine anything I wanted so I imagined it was me living in those cities and small towns. I had the house nestled in between the mountains with horses and goats grazing in the pasture. I was standing in the little yellow shelter at the end of the driveway waiting for the school bus. It was me attending school in Texas waiting for the bell to ring to go hang out with my friends. It was a life I craved- someone else's. It was unknown and exhilarating and I wanted it but it was always out of reach. I could see it, I could yearn for it, and I could almost taste it, but it was just always out of reach. Maybe if I would live those lives I would still always be wanting something different, always on to the next adventure perhaps, but I still want it. It's changed a little as I've gotten older- I want that awesome job in San Francisco, and after work I head down to The Bay to walk around and look out at the water. Or work at some sort of studio in Chicago developing my photo's I took of all the buildings (even though I'm nowhere near the likes of being a photographer). Or I'm working in a high rise building for a magazine in New York writing an article that needs to be done yesterday. I look over through my window at the skyline of NY and pause a moment because I know that it's mine, and I relish in that.

I want to see the world. Maybe I wont get to live any of those lives, but maybe just getting a little taste from time to time would suffice. Maybe. I want to backpack through Europe for a month (and by backpack I mean taking a huge piece of luggage with wheels cuz I sure as hell am not living out of a small backpack for a month), sit at a cafe in Paris with the best unobstructed view of the Eiffel Tower, sipping a latte and writing a blog post. I want to mingle with the people in Germany because I hear they are just so nice. Then take a trip to Switzerland and slide down mountains on some sort of toboggan contraption. Then head down to Italy and walk the streets of Rome, soaking in the ambiance and romantic air.

I want to see Abu Dhabi with all the mosque's and temples. I want to see the beauty in the buildings and capture it, maybe on film, but mostly in my heart. I want to get on a camel and race to the finish line. I want to watch the sunset from a dune buggy we took to go "Dune Bashing."

I want to go to the Philippines and soak in the culture. I want to play with the children and get a sense of local culture. I want to sit on a beach in Australia watching the surfer's try to catch a wave. I want to go for a walk through the valleys of Ireland, go to a pub for some ale and sink into my bed at the end of the night in the bed and breakfast. I want to walk the stone walkways in Israel and imagine myself in a time past.

There are a lot of places I want to go, to see, to experience. Maybe I'll accomplish all that I want. Maybe I wont. But I yearn for it, I want it and I'm reaching. Maybe one day I'll touch what I'm looking for, get a grip on it and hold on tight for the adventurous ride I so badly crave. For now I better get handle on my spending habits so I can make my dreams come true *blush*.