travel

here i am, once again, trying to decide which shoes to take and how many Q-tips i'll actually need; 20 necklaces? come on, really, anissa? toothpaste and deodorant for sure. check. and thank god i have an ipod touch now, so i can leave my computer at home. oh the joys of packing, especially when you have several destinations that may vary in temperatures by 50 degrees or so. but, i actually love the packing part of traveling. that's when it starts, even before you head out to the airport.

this particular trip will involve stops in Russia, France and the islands of North Carolina. i get to see loved ones, eat amazing food, experience other thought-lives, behold Red Square and the Eiffel Tower, dance, laugh and be. and most importantly, i'll get the cultural 'cleanse' i've been craving for some time.

you see, for me, international travel didn't start until i was 24. but once i tasted of airports, foreign languages and the realization that not everyone thinks like me, i was hooked. every time i encounter another culture, i experience moments of thinking i want to stay there forever. and i experience presence in a truer, deeper way than at home. new and unique experiences invoke awareness in a way that is often lost when we're comfortably hanging out in the familiar. one of my life-challenges is to find that now-ness in the 'mundane' as well as in the exciting adventure. but i'm getting off track...

so, i have a life-goal to visit every continent (maybe with the exception of Antarctica - it's cold there and i'm sure that what i need for internalizing penguin culture can be found in the film Happy Feet), and as many countries as possible. wouldn't it be cool if i could be the first woman to visit every country in the world? there's an Indian man who's done it, but no woman that i'm aware of. hmmmm... if you'd like to fund such a venture, i promise i'd write a book about it and put your name in the dedication. think about it.

now go see the world! traveling mercies...