Many of my friends, especially my birding friends, are world travelers. I was fortunate to travel a lot "on the company" during 25 years as a marketing manager. I often saw more of the inside of the hotel than I wanted to, but I always took time to see a bit of the sights and I always read about the history and culture of the place. I took whale-watching tours in San Diego and rushed through the Metropolitan Museum or MOMA on trips to New York City. I took Circle Line tours, saw Broadway shows, or just hit the streets, walking to a scenic spot or cultural attraction listed in the city guides. So I don't have that travel bug that sends many packing for Elder Hostels and cruise lines. In fact, sometimes I'm so happy to sit on my deck and watch the birds, knowing that there is so much in my own back yard that I still long to know, that I don't want to go anywhere else at all.
But my birding friends are always traveling and I think that I should want to travel to Ecuador and Australia too. What's wrong with me? Is it wrong to lack interest in travel? Am I not intellectually curious enough?
While on a bus trip to geology sites in York County, enjoying a bit of local travel, I took the opportunity to sit next to my friend Joanne, who is a world traveler of the sort that, if I did travel, I would want be like. I told her that my husband and I didn't care to travel to exotic places and asked her what she got out of travel and what we were missing.
"You can see in all of that on National Geographic shows," she said in her lovely New Zealand accent. "That's not why we travel." Joanne and her husband have a parent each from England or America and the South Pacific. Alex worked for the State Department. They were born to travel and they have seen the world. They are immersion travelers. They want to hike, camp, talk to indigenous people. "It clears your head and gets you out of your comfort zone. It makes you think about the way other people live and about the world." On our local trip, Joanne is as immersed as when she travels abroad. She takes notes to review later. She's continually learning. I digested a lot of wisdom from Joanne that day. She and her husband know how to travel well. Not well as in fancy hotels, but well as in really knowing where they have been and what they have seen.
I decided that perhaps it's okay that I don't want to take a package tour to Prague or a cruise to Alaska. It's not that I'm so pedestrian that I don't want to go, I just don't have to go. I would find these sorts of trips a lot like traveling on business, rushing about to the scenic spots and cultural markers. I would rather travel like Joanne and Alex, but I am, perhaps, lacking in the knowledge and fearlessness (not to mention the money) that would make living in a hut in Africa truly enjoyable. I'd like to do that sort of thing, I think, but I'm feeling middle aged and less than willing to go for it. Travel is not free and not something we can prioritize.
My traveling for now is to the Shenandoah National Park or to Grafton Ponds or to my back yard. I can immerse myself there. I can learn the anatomy and physiology of the parts and systems that make up the place. I can work hard at taking a photograph using manual settings. I can clear my head by watching that house wren build a nest in my bluebird box. There is so much to know that I don't already know about the places, plants, and animals nearby. I have a strong need to know them well before I need to see Patagonia. Maybe I'll go someday, but I can travel in my own back yard and be refreshed and fulfilled for now.
The National Parks in the western U.S.: I think I'd like to try them first.
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