A Place Called Roam
  • Home
  • Tao of Travel
  • The Best Of
  • Archives
  • About
  • Contact Me

TRAVELING MAY BE HAZARDOUS TO YOUR HEALTH

11/29/2012

 
I knew it would hit sooner or later.  Later is good.  I can procrastinate with the best of ‘em.  
 
Yes, I can live with later. I think. 

It’s not really as bad as you might think.  In fact, as far as crises go, this one is rather tame.  It doesn’t involve drugs nor will the IRS or fashion police come knocking on my door. 
 
Have I mentioned there’s a down side to travel, aside from the fact it’s a rather expensive hobby? I didn’t think so.   
I’ve just hit bottom a little harder than usual this time; the bottom called reality. This is the real housewife of Chicago settling back in, minus all the drama. All the dining out has given way to the stove and the kitchen sink.  All the new friends and acquaintances have taken their places on the back burner. And the new sights and experiences have been reduced to the same predictable routine I endeavored to escape while traveling Europe.   
 
My funk is obviously nothing a little time away won’t cure.  Wait!  That's the problem.  We're home for the next month!  Jimmy is in the basement replacing a furnace that's seen better days.  I've seen better days.

I know.  I’m sounding a bit like Scarlett O’Hara, the exciting chapters of my life now Gone with the Wind.  I’m back to Tara, and the life of one less than exciting Chicago housewife.  Gone are the days when every new day was a new port in a new city, filled with more adventure than anyone deserves much less can continue to pay for.  I’d even learned to live out of a  suitcase.  It took me days to unpack from my last trip. Change is never easy. It's hard giving up the nomadic lifestyle.
Picture
There is a suitcase under all my belongings.
My dresser feels cavernous, although my closet is still small!  There’s no long lines anymore followed by the obligatory TSA scrutiny, or heaven forbid, a pat down.  The only lines I can find now are at the grocery store checkout.  Those kids know nothing about being nasty. They also have no idea life is an Amazing Race and Jimmy and I are falling behind!  I don’t like being in last place.  
 

I don’t like living on a budget either.  Worrying about how I'm going to pay for all this travel is so boring, so middle class.  Oh, that's right.  I am middle class.   

I can feel myself becoming boring again with nothing to add to the conversation beyond my expertise at clipping coupons.  My Facebook page is filling up with the same predictable dribble I thought clever before I had more to offer via travel.    

Nobody warned me travel could be so addicting, my life at home so mundane.  I think  suitcases should come with a warning label like cigarettes.  In big, bold letters stretched across those bland carcasses (with space for adding your personal information, perhaps) the manufacturers should caution, in big, attention grabbing CAPS!: “TRAVELING MAY BE HAZARDOUS TO MAINTAINING THE MONOTONY OF THE 9-TO-5”; or up the ante and throw in some clout: “THE SURGEON GENERAL HAS DETERMINED THAT TRAVELING MAY MAKE RETURNING HOME HAZARDOUS TO YOUR MENTAL HEALTH.” 
Picture
Let's tell it like it is!
You think!  This far into my funk I’ve really bared my soul as well as a few loose screws.  Addictions are never pretty.  

Maybe it’s time for an intervention.  
 

Yes, yes!  Welcome, Ben & Jerry!  All the way from Vermont, aye.  How nice of you.
Picture
My new friends, given the only traveling I'll be doing for a while is down memory lane.
I may not find any answers at the bottom of that pint of Chocolate Therapy, but there’s more where that came from. There’s half baked, too!
Picture
I told you I'd seen better days! I don't think the bedhead look is my best look.
Mmm.  This half baked isn’t half bad.  In fact, it's a trip. 

Gotta get my travel in any way I can.
Kathy
11/29/2012 05:17:55 am

I hope if your traveling is coming to a slow pace doesn't mean you won't have much to write about. I think you can make the mundane life sound fun and funny. So keep writing! I may not be able to relate to all the traveling but I sure can relate to the mundane life! Hey, we may have somthing in common! There has to be a story to tell after Jim puts the furnance in. Keep the stories coming!

Sherry
11/29/2012 05:38:55 am

Good idea Kathy! Thanks for the suggestion. We're always up to something, just not always grand. If it was all grand, we'd have to keep upping the ante.

Joan Avery
11/29/2012 11:13:44 am

You've made me smile again, Sherry. Love the look of bedhead & ice cream right out of the container. You're right about traveling being addictive. I'm ready to go.....anywhere. It's surely easier than laundry, grocery lists, & all that stuff. But then, it's more costly, too. Oh yeah, that's why we're home again.

Sherry
11/29/2012 11:39:45 am

You, more than anyone, know exactly where I'm coming from given you were my partner in so-much-fun-it-had-to-be-criminal European adventure. Where to next?

Joan
11/29/2012 11:54:12 am

Would we go anywhere if we could get someone to pay for it?

Sherry
11/29/2012 01:23:25 pm

I didn't have the winning Powerball ticket, so the buck stops with me.

Diane link
11/30/2012 04:50:59 pm

Is the Orient Express cheaper than Canada?

Stay warm...

Sherry
11/30/2012 05:49:14 pm

Sad to say, no! It's a shame one of us didn't have the winning lottery ticket!

Cathy Philips
12/25/2012 01:50:46 pm

It doesn't have to be out of the country, does it? We live in a place people pay money to get to and we have a house big enough to sleep many people, and within striking distance of the Grand Canyon, Mesa Verde, Navajo reservation, and countless other lovely places right here! Just let us know when you are coming and we'll find the guest bed under whatever has gathered there, and probably even change the sheets. and that will get you away from your kitchens (Avery's too) and we'll figure out mealtimes and hike and play and you will go home feeling you were in a third world country! Plus it would be fun to read those posts too!

Sherry
12/25/2012 04:02:42 pm

Count me in! There's lots we haven't seen out west. Want to do the Route 66 run also. When we do, I'll be in touch. Thanks for the offer Cathy!


Comments are closed.

    About

    I'm searching for more meaning, magic and mystery in life through travel.  If you're searching for more info about me click on this link.   

    Categories

    All
    Attractions
    Botanic Gardens
    Cities
    Cruises
    Culture
    Europe
    Food
    Fun Foto Friday
    How You Venn?
    Islands
    Lake Geneva
    Life's Mysteries
    Middle East
    Museums/Memorials
    National Historic Landmark
    North America
    Nothing To Do With Travel
    Parks/zoos
    Photos
    Random Thoughts
    Restaurants
    This Thing Called Travel
    Top Ten
    Tuesday Travelista
    UNESCO World Heritage Site
    Who Knew?
    Zen Travel Moment

    View travelbug's photos on Trover

    Blog Roll

    This Is Indexed
    NatGeo Travel
    Science Dump
    Traveler Writers Exchange
    Matador 
    Brain Pickings
    House By the Sea
    Time Goes By
    The Happiness Project
    Dictionary of Obscure 
       Sorrows

    For Automatic Blog Updates
    in same time click the RSS Feed button below and sign up for email notices or click the Like button below for automatic updates to your Facebook page. 

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly