On Going No Place

Late Fall in the Hills

I’m just gonna come right out and say it: I hate traveling.

I hate traveling that involves going someplace I can’t drive to myself in one day, especially traveling that involves me being transported in an overly large vehicle with numerous other people in it. It’s a little better when I have a window to look out of. I can say that.

I’m not sure, now that I’ve got started, that I can say it enough…. Perhaps I can say it in all caps….. I HATE TRAVELING. Apparently, if I were in England, I’d hate it with 2 ‘l’s. But I’m not in England and I ain’t likely to be, considering its distance from where I am and the ocean in between us. (I’m also not overly fond of large bodies of water… or swimming pools; a hot tub is the largest an amount of water that I prefer to be in. I occasionally visit a local swimming pool but I do so equipped with a dependable floatation device. But that’s a whole ‘nother matter.)

And, less you mistake me, it’s not just the vehicular aspect of traveling that I despise… even more so, possibly, it’s being somewhere that’s not home. Oh, I’ll gladly visit the members of my family who tolerate me, and close friends, people I’ve known since forever, people who are to me like family, but go somewhere to see something that is generally regarded as ‘spectacular?’ Like the Grand Canyon? No, thank you. I went to that location; I saw it; I took some pictures because I take pictures everywhere all the time; I have more shots of my backyard then I can count… but was I blown away by the great clefts and towering slabs?

I’ll admit it was huge… but that’s all I got.

I could spend an entire day gazing into the woods that surround me here and feel as if I’m in heaven. Hell, I can easy spend fifteen minutes looking at one tree… or a leaf, for that matter… never mind all the critters that wander through. My life every day at home is filled with beauty… which is fabulous… and it changes monthly… though it has, on occasion, changed overnight which is maybe a tad more excitement than I prefer. Somehow, home is enough for me. I’d rather be here, at home, in the woods, in the hills, than anywhere else.

That said, I will travel to see the people that make my life feel special. I’m pretty sure they all know how special they are to me because they all know how I feel about leaving my sanctuary in the hills. Me being with someone I love is worth every moment of whatever it takes to get me there and I will tolerate the trip. Love can change many things. It has yet, however, to change how I feel about travel itself.