I've always had it...

When I was five my parents took me to Chicago to see the circus. There were elephants, acrobats in sparkly leotards, clowns in little cars, all under the big top, but what captivated me wasn't the glitz & glamour of Barnum & Bailey, but rather the windy city itself. There was an energy about the city, a spark that I felt in my bones. I knew from that moment on that I would never be content living in one place my entire life.

Now that I am in my thirties and my daughter is almost the age I was when I discovered a world outside the cornfield, I am settled. I have a house, a career, a relationship...never have I felt so rooted to a place. Unlike me, Lauren has been flying in airplanes since she was 11 months old. She ate sand on Cape Cod at 6 months, toured Las Vegas at 3 years old, visited at least 8 of the 50 states by age 2. I wonder if she will inherit the travel bug from me or if she will feel as though she needs to have solid ground, dig in her heels, root herself in Massachusetts.

And now that my own roots are expanding and digging in deep, I'm always looking for the next great travel adventure, it gives me something to look forward to, and having just returned from a week in Spain I'm already thinking about my next trip...Vegas...Chicago...Phoenix...Berlin...Prague...bring it on! And they say that diamonds are a girl's best friend, but I beg to differ. The world is a book and those who do not travel read only a page.

On my latest trip to Spain, I penned a quick snippet of a poem while wandering around Seville:


The Best Laid Plans

I plan to write. I plan to drink sangria
and think of Hemingway.
I plan to meet someone fantastically exotic,
and lose him in the same moment I met him.
I plan to wear long skirts and flip flops
and watch my students' reactions to paella.
I plan to write you a postcard,
which I will never send.