Countdown

[Photo taken on a flight from Tokyo to Los Angeles after my first trip to Japan in 2005.]

Whenever I travel, I go through the same before and after timeline as the time leading up to my trip grows shorter.  I not only think about where I will be in one week, one day, etc. but also how quickly it will all be over.  For example, at this exact moment one week from now, I will have just landed in Amman, Jordan, to begin a week of travel that includes a visit to a place I have longed to see for years - Petra.  And two weeks from now?  I'll be on my way home.  Two weeks and one day?  Back home, journey over, bag still unpacked, memories still fresh in my mind like a perfect blanket of snow, not yet trampled on and churned up by errands, laundry and getting back to work.

I envision this before and after countdown in my mind to remind myself that while it might be a very big deal for me to be fulfilling an extraordinary dream, there is plenty more beyond this experience, and much to look forward to in terms of how my experiences on this journey will affect everything I do when I get back home.  My first trip to Japan taught me the art of standing still and observing to figure out what I needed to know (in that case, how to find the train I needed to go to another part of the city).  After I visited Cuba, I experienced an entirely new level of awe at the availability of something as mundane as Band-Aids in the United States (as Cubans have access to free health care, but there are no neighborhood drug stores where things like Band-Aids are available for sale.)  During my trip to New Zealand last year, I returned with greater clarity on a number of personal issues, the result of having a good chunk of quiet solitude in my friend's lovely beach house.  While I love the feeling of anticipation before a new excursion, I also look forward to what is in store for me after I get back home.

It is tempting to look at these out of the ordinary experiences as spaces of time when I'm really living my life - when I am pushing my limits, stepping out of my comfort zones and making dreams come true.  And while these experiences certainly shape who I am and have an impact on my life, they are but one layer.  If I use a house as a metaphor, weeks like the one I'll begin seven days from now are more like the ivory vintage lamps in our bedroom or the artwork on our walls.  They are accents to a larger piece, and certainly not as vital as a strong foundation or a well-built roof.  If I've done my work, their main purpose is to add beauty and flair to an already unique, fulfilling, marvelously imperfect structure - the story of my life.

Comments

[Linda]

i love traveling "with" you! Linda

[gillian]

I agree completely. Any special trip or the like should be equated to an accent on an already beautiful life. I don't want to come off like the eager beaver of the group but to me, instead of the antique lamp this trip is for you, for me it is like landscaping my entire backyard and putting in an inground pool.
Yes, that excited. However, you have travelled much more than I have...maybe that is why I can hardly contain my excitement!
See you soon, :D

[Jean]

You've been to some amazing places alredy, and Petra looks like it will be equally amazing! I found this poem written by John William Burgon about Petra to share...

It seems no work of Man's creative hand,
by labour wrought as wavering fancy planned;
But from the rock as if by magic grown,
eternal, silent, beautiful, alone!
Not virgin-white like that old Doric shrine,
where erst Athena held her rites divine;
Not saintly-grey, like many a minster fane,
that crowns the hill and consecrates the plain;
But rose-red as if the blush of dawn,
that first beheld them were not yet withdrawn;
The hues of youth upon a brow of woe,
which Man deemed old two thousand years ago,
match me such marvel save in Eastern clime,
a rose-red city half as old as time.

Have a wonderful trip! I will look forward to seeing some photos on your blog!

[Grace]

enjoy!

[Di]

Beautiful! Travel safe and have the most excellent time.