Put Travel in the “Why Not” Category

I have a travel confession to make: I got back from my holiday trip back east to visit the husband’s family more than 10 days ago, and I still haven’t finished unpacking. I wish I could say it’s because I’m about to jet off somewhere else any second now, but really it’s just that I’ve been a bit really lazy about it. And maybe, just maybe, I’m a little bummed that I don’t have somewhere else to jet off to any second now.

To make matters worse, it’s not just that half-unpacked suitcase on my bedroom floor reminding me I’m in no hurry to unpack so I can repack, it’s my accounts with TripIt and Dopplr. When I last looked at them a few days ago, both practically screamed at me, “YOU HAVE NO TRIPS PLANNED” like it’s a three-alarm fire or something. Yes, I know I don’t have any trips planned. But that doesn’t mean I’m not going anywhere this year, dammit.

I’ve become less and less of a planner than I used to be – partly because of a lack of time for any kind of planning, to be sure, and partly because I’m never sure what a year will hold for me anymore. For instance, I’m looking into whether I can get back to Italy at some point this year. Will it happen? Not sure yet – but I’m not ruling it out. I know I’ll be at TBEX in New York come the end of June, and I’m extremely excited about that, but have I made any travel plans whatsoever for that? Nope. I haven’t completely given in and become a seat-of-the-pants traveler, but I do feel like I’m leaning way more in the direction of “if it’s meant to happen, it’ll happen” than I ever thought I would.

This is not to say that I’m not still doing more than my fair share of travel dreaming. I research and write about travel all day long, so it’s not something I could avoid even if I wanted to. I write about prices on some cheap international airline tickets I’ve found and immediately wonder where I’d want to stay in each city. I write about getting to South Africa for the World Cup and start thinking about how I’d squeeze an Italian flag into my bag to wave at all the games. I write anything about Italy and I imagine myself back at my favorite corner bar in Milan ordering a marrochino, per favore.

It’s automatic. I can’t help it.

But dreaming about travel when you’re a Type A planner is one thing – there are so many steps between Here and There that it always seems a little further away. Dreaming about travel when you’re letting go of that Type A planner personality is different. The distance from Here to There never seems as great, making the whole thing seem like it belongs in the “why the heck not?” category.

And really, all things considered, the “why the heck not?” category is a pretty ideal place for travel, wouldn’t you agree?

photo by stacy michelle