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47 – Travel *

Special thanks to Tina for providing the photos. Tina is in the USA and I encourage readers to visit her at Travels and Trifles or her professional website. Please tell her I sent you and feel free to comment on her images here. Tina’s work is copyrighted by Tina R Schell Photography.

NOTE: Due to personal matters, I will not be posting next week. My plan is to return on Tuesday 9 March.

Click the video above for 2 minutes of background waves while reading.

I like walking on the beach. It is good for the mind, body, and soul – and refreshing on my feet.

I see a cargo ship in the distance, plus a pleasure craft heading out to see. An airplane just flew over – probably associated with the nearby military base. From the balcony last night I noticed a ship’s lights far out at sea that seem like a cruise ship.

Planes, boats, and ships are means of transportation. They are traveling to and from somewhere, and the people aboard are travelers. With that in mind, travel is today’s topic as I walk this familiar long stretch of beautiful beach.

Some people love to travel. Others want to travel but lack the resources or have health concerns. Some people have no interest in travel. Others have no desire to travel because they are scared – consumed with fears compounded by myths, exaggerations, narrow-mindedness, and negative perceptions.

Travel – to go from one place to another over a presumed distance away from our home.

Travel can be a verb or a noun – a journey, tour, trip, voyage, expedition, excursion, sightsee, globetrot, roam, cruise, hike, trek, ride, gallivant, safari – by plane, boat, car, bus, train, bike, even our own two feet.

Travel is more than seeing sites. It is about learning why the sites are important to the people and why people are proud. After all, everyone lives in a culture with national heroes, traditions, values, and stories.

Travel is enjoyable while creating memories, builds confidence, and bridges cultures by understanding differences and commonalities.

We travel to learn, to share, to expand ideas, to discover and personalize humanity; to expand ourselves, to do better, to be better, to stimulate thought, and to make the world smaller.

Travel creates a lifetime of memories involving gorgeous landscapes and sceneries, historic locations, delightful people, and interesting food.

Travel is uncomfortable by design because the destination is a land that is comfortable for inhabitants – but not the traveler.

Travel connects the world and expands daydreaming if the mind remains open.

Travel involves a hunger to explore, adventure, learn, and challenge yourself – especially if you can explore on your own with comfortable shoes.

We travel to understand globalization, to discover the diversity of humanity, and to identify the commonalities bringing us together and while respecting the differences.

We travel to create meaningful relationships, to experience the culture, then share those lessons with friends.

We travel to help remove preconceptions, overcome fears, and deepen our perspective about all people.

We travel to learn that the majority of people in the world are good.

We are travelers. I have been fortunate to stand in all fifty states but, there is still much more to explore in America. Both of us enjoy and feel comfortable in Europe. We visited numerous countries, but there is still so much more to explore. Unfortunately, the pandemic has halted our journeys – but I believe that is temporary.

I yearn to travel because it is a time we inhale new wide-open spaces while gathering memories of people, places, and things.

I yearn to travel because it is a time to discover old city streets and charming villages to seemingly hold on to a time that has passed.

I yearn to travel so I can dream, wonder, growth, laugh, and cry. Yes, I love to travel, and I miss it.

Beaches are throughout the world, but for me, it is hard to imagine a walking beach as good as this one but, it’s probably out there – somewhere for a traveler to find. Meanwhile, I like walking on the beach because it is good for the mind, body, and soul – and refreshing on my feet.

See what other bloggers have written about travel

Next Post: Return – Tuesday 9 March @ 1 AM (Eastern US)

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272 thoughts on “47 – Travel *”

  1. I thought I had commented… but even if I had, it would have been lost in the 208!!!
    However, as a fellow traveller, I am feeling your pain. To think exactly one year ago today, we were five days into our cruise… Dang. And I cancelled France for the second time – I should have been going next month. In the grand scheme of things, we know this is a blip in our lives but man, while we are in it, we sure feel it.
    I’m with you on travellers are more open, more aware, more interesting – learning about other cultures shows you you are not alone on this big blue orb and that we are different with different values and foods and cultures. Eye-opening and wonderful.

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      1. Cheers, fellow traveller!
        And yes, it was a cooking adventure… Now, one of the ladies I met in Tuscany (and with whom I was supposed to spend this April with) is asking if I will sign up for April 2022. I said I would wait…

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  3. I miss traveling even more than I thought I would. The first few months of lockdown I thought “I can do this.” It helped that we could walk outside and I could visit my favorite summer ocean town. But as fall and winter progressed, my wanderlust began flowing stronger and stronger. I love flying between the two coasts of US – east and west – with friends and family on both. I’m missing that so much. And I want to visit Europe again and perhasp see blogging friends – wouldn’t that be neat? I hope you’re right and we’ll soon be able to visit parts known and unknown, soon.

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      1. I think that’s the mantra for 2020-2021 “It is what it is.” I’m trying to intone it sweetly enough that it calms me down. It helps that the temps are a ‘bit’ warmer and I can begin to go for longer walks outside. Yesterday – 30 degrees – a heat wave – and an hour walk “forest bathing.” 🙂

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  4. Ah, Frank, thank you for your journey of thoughts on …journeys and travel. [I thought I had already commented.. comes with age I suppose! 😉 ] And Tina’s photos complement your journeys beautifully!
    Yamas!

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    1. Donna,
      Glad you enjoyed both the words and Tina’s photos. It wasn’t easy to write just about travel without mentioning places, but somehow I did it. That way, the reader can go to their own places, plus the images could do that, too. Hopefully, travel can become part of life again in the near future.

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  7. Traveling was so great when I was in college, traipsing around Europe with my friends. Now, with kids, more stressful than fun, but I still miss it and look forward to traveling again.

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  9. Lovely thoughts about travel. I miss it too, Frank. It was great to see Tina’s photos on this post. She is so well traveled, and one of those pictures is my favorite pictures of all times. Al Sig Petra in Jordan. I know you had fun with this one. 🙂

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    1. Marsha,
      Thank you for the kind words. As a whole, I travel to go places, but there is a glaring omission in the words. Some travel to see people – especially relatives – and the pandemic has limited that, too. Glad you enjoyed Tina’s images. I haven’t visited Jordan or any other country in that part of the world, but it looks wonderful. Maybe someday for me.

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  10. We haven’t traveled to far away places in years, but we do enjoy spending weekends in quaint little mountain towns. We plan on traveling later this year. Thank you for following my blog.

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  12. Pingback: WQWWC #19: Fitness, Health or Wellness – Marsha Ingrao – Always Write

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