The Travel Itch

I suffer from a travel itch. I can (and do) spend hours fiddling with google maps and the various websites for booking flights online. I seriously suspect someone in office tracked the amount of google map surfing I do and fired me, masking it to be a lay off. When my boss summoned me to his office last Monday and told me that Friday will be my last day, one of my very first thoughts was, “Wow, I can really do some traveling before prices escalate during Christmas. Maybe even go to Europe before going back to India”. You get the picture, right? 

 Travel-wise, this year had been superb. Locally, I visited all the places I wanted to. Every week in summer was meant for hiking. And then, I fondly remember some long trips I want to recap. The first day of my year started with a trip to Los Angeles and San Diego. Universal studio, Disneyland, Hollywood, La Jolla beach, it was everything I could ask for. Seattle had recorded maximum snow and I was so glad to be out there, getting some sun in Southern California. February and March mostly saw me busy with my play performance, and moving to the new apartment. I think April was the same too. The main fun started in May. Come May, I think I went to a new place every weekend. I was in Hawaii, one of my dream destinations. Then I was in northern California, mainly San Francisco, Monterey Bay, and Big Sur. I think I was home for one weekend and then the last one I took off to the east coast. Philadelphia, Delaware, Washington DC, Shenandoah Valley, New York City, and Princeton. It was an amazing month for me. 

Starting June, I was mostly hiking in and around the state of Washington. Mt. Rainier, Mt. St. Helens, and those numerous drives. Seriously, if you ever consider living in the Pacific North West, you will get to see the most amazing mountains and rivers and scenery. The sheer beauty of this place compensates for all the rains. The July 4th weekend saw me on a road trip with 8 others to Yellowstone National Park and Grand Teton National Park. August saw me celebrating my birth day weekend at Olympic National Park and then Mount St. Helens. Come September, I was out on another road trip to Glacier National Park in Montana. In between, the one good thing I had learnt to do was drive. Come October, I had covered Mount Baker, Olympic National Park, going all the way up to the north western most tip of continental USA. The North Cascades National Park was another new place I drove to. I singlehandedly drove 2,000 miles in a week. 

By then, the news of my lay off had reached me, and my enthusiasm had somewhat dampened. Thanksgiving was a brief drive to Leavenworth. I was mostly busy applying for graduate school. Come December, I explored the Oregon coast a bit, with Cannon Beach. What next? I don’t know. There is Christmas and New Years. But airfares are crazy. I have been itching for a trip to Florida, have been so tempted to take that 10:25pm flight to Florida for the last 3 days now. But traveling alone to Florida really sounded depressing. Still knowing me, I will not be surprised if 2 mornings later, I find myself in Florida. I have been to 12 states this year, and 7 national parks, which is frankly not a lot. 

In the meantime, I saw this movie Dasvidaniyan and made a list of all the places I want to travel next year. Given my layoff, I don’t know if I have enough time or money. But I definitely want to go visit Florida, Hawaii (again), Alaska, Grand Canyon, the national parks in Utah, Crater national park in Oregon, and Niagara Falls. In the meantime, I can derive some vicarious pleasure from google maps. I think the only way to cure the travel itch is by traveling. 

sunshine