Travel weary already
Janice Wells: A few weeks ago I mentioned that Newman and I are planning a big trip for the fall and that I was getting right into the fun of planning it. ‘They’ say planning and anticipating is half the fun and I jumped in with great excitement.
A few weeks ago I mentioned that Newman and I are planning a big trip for the fall and that I was getting right into the fun of planning it. ‘They’ say planning and anticipating is half the fun and I jumped in with great excitement.
The really fun part, I thought, was that we hadn’t chosen destinations and all of Europe was going to be our oyster with the train passes that I had already thoroughly researched.
This all started on Jan. 2, a significant birthday for Newman and the beginning of the first year in five that it seems we might both be up to travelling.
At this stage in life, my philosophy is don’t put off today what you might not be able to do tomorrow, so right away I was off to the library and book stores and online sites, loading up on travel books.
I took 15 books from the library the first time. Only two of them were current but, aside from where to eat and stay and some tour information, most things don’t change.
The important things like Stonehenge and the Alps and the red light district in Amsterdam don’t move. The distance between Budapest and Brussels and Marseilles and Malaga is still the same but a lot of the trains are faster than they were in 2009.
The Normandy region of France, Belgium and the Netherlands are a must because of Newman’s father’s journey as a signalman in WWII. However Newman and # 3 Son will be doing will be doing the research on his regiment’s actual route so I don’t have many decisions to make.
I already know I want to stay on a houseboat and spend some time in Bruges, but some of Newman’s family may be joining us and it’s all up in the air for now and out of my hands.
Great Britain wasn’t part of the plan, even though Dorset, Cornwall and the general West Country England area has been high on my list forever. That, I reasoned, was a trip in itself and therefore for another time.
Then I started considering that I really shouldn’t assume there’ll be another time, so I scratched Hungary in favour of England.
I do know a lot more about Hungary than before so I couldn’t consider all those hours researching as being wasted, and, after another trip to the library, plus discovering YouTube travel videos, I started exploring the southwest of England, home of my ancestors. Sisters may join us for a while there, so once again, all the pressure isn’t on me.
I have enjoyed many a cold stormy day whiling away the hours on the merits of Provence over the Cote d’Azur, which is also referred to as the French Riviera and kind of overlaps Provence.
In my heart I know is not going to be like it was in 1989 when Peter Mayle wrote about spending a year there, so I started out already fearing disappointment.
I slowly came to realize that there were just too many choices in the south of France and I pretty much have to make them myself as Newman is “just tell me where and when and I’ll show up” kind of man. As I am pathologically anxious about making wrong decisions, the south of France started to lose its appeal.
Then friends announced a trip to Spain, but in the spring, and suggested we should go, too. I’d rather not be away in the spring but they’ve already decided when they’re going and where they’ll be staying (in one spot). Newman is easy so all I have to decide is if I want to go.
The fact that I’m finding it appealing made me realize that I’m already tired of elling. All this researching and comparing and trying to decide destinations has burnt me out.
I’m not sure what that says about me but I know it isn’t good.
Hopefully a month or so focused solely on life around me will revive my enthusiasm for a fall adventure.