TRAVEL:
My people are of a semi-nomadic nature. I am 10 generations (not officially documented) descendent of John and Priscilla Alden. The exploring attitude came with that but the rather rigid religious and social constructs failed to establish themselves in my bloodline.
My paternal grandfather came from Sweden, he got a sudden name change at Ellis Island, kept moving until he and his family hit Minnesota.
My personal travel has been nothing in comparison to the lighthearted souls who scamper off to the Seychelles or Antarctica. I have managed to never left American soil. Never visited Canada, never visited Mexico. Could have, just didn't occur to me.
As a young adult I worked in California and a girlfriend invited me to go home with her to West Virginia. We drove for 33 hours almost nonstop. We pulled over to the side of the road in Missouri in the wee dark hours. The constant whipping traffic from big rigs did not allow even a nap. We kept on. At one point we were clearly lost in the mountains of Kentucky, up at a cross road on top of a hill. A truck came by and they stopped to make inquiries. We chatted until my girl friend recognized a place and asked which a way and off we went. We eventually wound up in West Virginia at her parents house located in Gossip Bottom. I loved that name.
The summer my sisters spent with me was the summer by youngest sister developed a yen for travel. She has since then done just about everything BUT the Seychelles and Antarctica.
The most fun I have had as I traveled has been people watching or wonderful conversions on the airplane. I met an actor on his way to Seattle. He worked in Children's Theatre. The conversation was purely education.
On the other hand, I sat behind a father and daughter on a trip from home to Anchorage. He flopped all over the place and dangled his hand in my face. On the approach the girl started chanting in a teasing manner, "We're all going to die!" How cute. I recommend 80 mgs of Benadryl for those kinds of situations.
One time on the leg from Anchorage to Barrow, I was seated a few seats behind a couple of guys who were chatting about hunting. This I learned simply from hand gestures. They had very deep voices and spoke in a Nordic language. I heard a lot of "Yaaaa" and "Herna murna flurna, yaaaa."
I have had a pass port since the 80's, I never got to use it. I applied for a job in Saudi Arabia and got as far as an interview in Houston. Which is just as well while I do well in other cultures, the heat would have finished me.
I have always wanted to travel by train and one of these days I may go hop on Amtrak and go north.
My people are of a semi-nomadic nature. I am 10 generations (not officially documented) descendent of John and Priscilla Alden. The exploring attitude came with that but the rather rigid religious and social constructs failed to establish themselves in my bloodline.
My paternal grandfather came from Sweden, he got a sudden name change at Ellis Island, kept moving until he and his family hit Minnesota.
My personal travel has been nothing in comparison to the lighthearted souls who scamper off to the Seychelles or Antarctica. I have managed to never left American soil. Never visited Canada, never visited Mexico. Could have, just didn't occur to me.
As a young adult I worked in California and a girlfriend invited me to go home with her to West Virginia. We drove for 33 hours almost nonstop. We pulled over to the side of the road in Missouri in the wee dark hours. The constant whipping traffic from big rigs did not allow even a nap. We kept on. At one point we were clearly lost in the mountains of Kentucky, up at a cross road on top of a hill. A truck came by and they stopped to make inquiries. We chatted until my girl friend recognized a place and asked which a way and off we went. We eventually wound up in West Virginia at her parents house located in Gossip Bottom. I loved that name.
The summer my sisters spent with me was the summer by youngest sister developed a yen for travel. She has since then done just about everything BUT the Seychelles and Antarctica.
The most fun I have had as I traveled has been people watching or wonderful conversions on the airplane. I met an actor on his way to Seattle. He worked in Children's Theatre. The conversation was purely education.
On the other hand, I sat behind a father and daughter on a trip from home to Anchorage. He flopped all over the place and dangled his hand in my face. On the approach the girl started chanting in a teasing manner, "We're all going to die!" How cute. I recommend 80 mgs of Benadryl for those kinds of situations.
One time on the leg from Anchorage to Barrow, I was seated a few seats behind a couple of guys who were chatting about hunting. This I learned simply from hand gestures. They had very deep voices and spoke in a Nordic language. I heard a lot of "Yaaaa" and "Herna murna flurna, yaaaa."
I have had a pass port since the 80's, I never got to use it. I applied for a job in Saudi Arabia and got as far as an interview in Houston. Which is just as well while I do well in other cultures, the heat would have finished me.
I have always wanted to travel by train and one of these days I may go hop on Amtrak and go north.
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