Favourite Vacation Destination
Favourite Vacation Destination
I write this while on vacation (if one can be on vacation when one is retired), sailing towards the Caribbean. Not quite two days out of New York City and it is already pleasantly warm. Everywhere I look I see ocean and sky and little else; perhaps the occasional cargo or cruise ship.
I spend a great deal of time gazing out at the ocean when at sea. I love the vastness of it and imagine what life teems below. I watch the ship's wake and observe over the days the changing colour of the water - deep, dark, greys and almost blue-blacks of the North Atlantic to ever-increasing lighter shades of blues and, eventually, the glorious azure, cerulean, colours of the Caribbean. I listen to the surf, to the wind. I note the changes in the scents in the air, from crisp, cool, snowy scents to warmer, briny, scents.
I think that vacations are much like writing for me; it is less about the destination and more about the getting there.
If I were to start at the beginning, I would have to begin driving off from home. (We can leave out prep and packing - that can be a nightmare!) P. and I like to talk in the car. A lot. About everything. We discuss everything from politics to recipes to friends' love lives and all in-between. We agree on most things. We agree to disagree on others. But we do agree that we love to discuss many and varied things.
We like to sing. A lot. I joke that P. has a song for absolutely everything. (Perhaps that is not really a joke!) That comes from years of working with kids, I suppose. Pick a word - any word - and there is a song! We'll tune into 60's and 70's radio stations - songs of our youth - and sing along. And laugh at how we remember all the words but can't seem to remember what we had for dinner last night.
We play games - trivia games and quiz games. And if we don't know the answers, we make them up. It is always important to answer with authority. And we laugh some more.
And we'll marvel at the beauty of the changing scenery as we drive through mountains and valleys. We'll gasp at glorious vistas before us, magically appearing around a bend. We'll revel in the beauty of a simple creek, wandering through wooded glens beside the roadside. We'll point out deer and birds and other varied creatures that happen upon our path to our destination.
And the sky! The never-ending beauty of the sky with its myriad colours and moods and clouds. We will, of course, find mythical, mystical, magical, creatures in the clouds.
If there be themes to our travels I would say they be wonder and laughter and love: Wonder at all this joyous, glorious, world has to offer, regardless of where we find ourselves; laughter because that always energizes us and ensures that we never take things too seriously; and love which keeps us firmly grounded. Love of self, love of each other and love of the world around us.
Favourite vacation destination? The path to the final destination...
