Travelin' travelin' travelin' through.....

I have been reading the book Eat, Pray, Love, and she says many a thing in there that resonates with me COMPLETELY. This, however, was one of my favorites. The heroine, if you will (who is also the author), is living in Rome and has just met an Australian backpacker who is on her way to Slovenia:

"When I heard her plans, I was stricken with such a dumb spasm of jealousy, thinking, I want to go to Slovenia! How come I never get to travel anywhere? Now, to the innocent eye it might appear that I already am traveling. And longing to travel while you are traveling is, I admit, a kind of greedy madness...But the fact that this girl asked directions from me (clearly, in her mind, a civilian) suggests that I am not technically traveling in Rome, but living here...Traveling-to-a-place energy and living-in-a-place energy are two fundamentally different energies, and something about meeting this Australian girl on her way to Slovenia just gave me such a jones to hit the road." (pp. 77-78)

While a major reason that I moved overseas was so that I could travel and see the world, it was also because I was given an exciting job opportunity that would allow me to really flex my pedagogical muscles, explore my entrepreneurial spirit, and lay the foundation for something that will have an impact on children long after I've returned to the U.S. The trade off, however, is that I have a ridiculous work schedule. I only get 1.5 days off per week and no summer break. As a result, my actual time to travel is very limited. I have two friends here who have made it their job to travel all over Asia for a year--using Bangkok as their home base--and have some of the most incredible adventures that two people could possibly have. I'll admit it--when I hear about their travel plans I feel the same kind of jealousy that Liz feels in her book: How come I never get to travel anywhere??

But, at the end of the day, we do the best we can. And damnit, I make the absolute most of my 1.5 days off (by the way....next year I get two consecutive days off....thank goodness!). I make it a point to take a plane somewhere at least once a month. In fact, after I finish writing this I will book my flight to Myanmar, where I will spend exactly 24 hours. People have very shocked reactions when I tell them this: What?! You're going to Myanmar for 24 HOURS?? What's the point? It hardly seems worth it! Can't you get some time off to go? (the answer to this last one is a resounding NO, unfortunately....)

Yes, a 24 hour tour of Yangon sounds a little nuts. But it's a one hour flight (if I were going to, say, Russia for 24 hours, then yes, that seems highly impractical), it's an inexpensive ticket, and the alternative to spending 24 hours in Myanmar is spending zero hours there, so I think the math makes sense. And you know what? I love any of my short trips just as much as I loved the month that I spent backpacking through Europe on spring break during my year of studying abroad in Ireland. So, while I may not have as much time to travel as I would like, I have a job that is very fulfilling (and FUN!) and I relish the opportunities to travel that I DO get. For me, travel is always a sacred experience, regardless of the length of time spent doing it.

Oh, and as for Liz, after meeting the Australian backpacker she called her friend and they headed to Naples for the day to eat a slice of pizza. Sometimes the small, spontaneous trips are the most delicious.