Travel logistics that still delight
Some do! It can still be a thing!
Today, write about a tiny travel-related detail that still completely delights you.
I say “still” because travel, as we’re all too aware, has largely shifted to a thing to be endured until arriving and then enjoying our destinations. Planes are crowded and boarding them turns us into me-first beasts; road-trips are mostly stretches of identical interstate highway with the same corporate entities awaiting us at every exit; yet, flying over beautiful skylines and mountain ranges turns all our heads to the windows and the winding stretches of land between exit ramps can help us get lost in our thoughts in the best possible way. So, what detail of travel— besides finally getting there— is still completely good in your book? Write about that.
When I wrote this, I first added:
I’ll be pondering this myself as I sit on a pre-dawn plane listening to two travelers fight over bag space. (For the record, this woman definitely did shove this dude’s bag outta the way and he responded with curiosity and patience and she… did not.)
Moments later I decided the detail I still love about traveling is finding the weird stuff I’m into in every city and loosely plotting an adventure to see that thing. Feminist bookstore? I’m there. Vintage jewelry/clothes? Don’t mind if I do. Old buildings that once housed newsrooms? Yup.
Then suddenly I realized I was sitting near a family taking their first international trip. Their anticipation was so wonderful and contagious; there’s such lovely joy in seeing a person being so genuinely delighted by a thing that they have no chance to even pretend to act unimpressed. “We’re going to see the real life Eiffel Tower!,” one exclaimed excitedly. “Did you know there’s a museum of pipes? I wonder if they have the one my grandfather brought over?,” said another. I watched the three of them mark guidebooks according to their personal interests and get hyped and I couldn’t help but bask in their shared joy.
Let’s write.
