I am a contradiction: a traveler and a homebody. I love putting deep roots into a place, stretching up to feel its particular sun on my face, the comfort of knowing I’m going to stay a while. But I also get anxious, every few weeks or so, to get out of town. To feel the weight of a backpack on my back or a suitcase in my hand, to know I’m going somewhere. To eat new foods and see views for the first time, to snap photos of unfamiliar faces and tilt my head back into new breezes. To start on the journey of making strangers into friends. And yet I also love to come back home.
So, today, a completely non-comprehensive list of the places I’ve traveled, with bits of memories attached to each:
1. Oxford, England. (Spring 2004; March 2006; March 2007; August 2007-May 2008; August 2009.) This is my second home, and will always be. It’s in my bones – the feel of the wind in my hair as I ride my bike down the high street; the big, exuberant sounds of worship music at St Aldates; the smooth sweetness of ice cream at G&D’s and the smell of earth and sunlight in spring. I miss it. Every day. And every time I’ve left it, I have vowed I’m going back.
2. Salzburg, Austria. (April 2004; November 2007.) I’m a lifelong Sound of Music fan, but I loved so many things about this quaint, clean, pastel-painted little mountain town. The hot chocolate is divine.
3. York and Whitby, England. (February 2004; February 2008.) I’m lumping them together because I’ve always visited them together. York Minster is totally stunning – but Whitby, as recently noted, will take your breath away.
4. Washington, D.C. (November 1995; May 1997; May 1998; January 2001; November 2001.) I haven’t been back to D.C. in years, but it is my favorite American city – fast-paced yet thoughtful, brimming with history yet naturally gorgeous. And I’ve been there with SO many of my favorite people.
5. Ruidoso, N.M. (Dec. 2007; June 2008.) I spent my blissful honeymoon in this mountain town, at a house belonging to a friend. Jeremiah and I slept late, walked up and down the main drag in town poking into shops, ate fabulous pizza at Pizza Rio and delicious tomato soup at The Buttery, and just enjoyed each other.
6. Santa Fe, N.M. (Several times from 1997-2000, always in June, at youth camp; May 2005.) I love Santa Fe – Jack Kelly’s song from “Newsies” has echoes in my own heart. I love the turquoise, the silver, the odd and colorful art, the tiny rubber-stamp shop, the Mexican food – and a little shop full of whimsy and wonder named, appropriately, Doodlet’s.
7. Paris, France (May 2004; Nov. 2007; April 2008.) I agree with whoever wrote “I Love Paris” – I love it in the springtime, in the fall, whenever. I love the twinkling lights along the Seine and the crazy sparkle of the Eiffel Tower. I love croissants shot through with chocolate and rich, bittersweet chocolat chaud. I love fresh raspberries from the market on Rue Mouffetard, and walking and talking with Jacque. I love the Degas paintings in the Musee d’Orsay, the views of Notre Dame from inside and outside and everywhere. I love swing dancing at Caveau de la Huchette. I love Fat Tire Bike Tours. And j’adore Shakespeare & Company, L’As du Fallafel, Cafe Panis and the bridges of Paris.
8. Roma, Italy. (March 2004.) I’ve only spent three days in Roma, but I did toss coins in the Trevi Fountain in the hope of returning to Rome someday. Rome is big, full of life, full of history, full of people, and yet its narrow-streeted neighborhoods are also charming. I’d love to go back.
9. The Aran Islands, Ireland. (Sept. 2007.) I traveled here with a lifelong friend, on a ferry from Galway via Rossaveal. And we both fell in love with everything about the islands. The sparkling blue sea, miles of it, in every direction; the distant Cliffs of Moher, covered in fog; the bikes available for overnight rent; the old, fascinating graveyards; the blackberries growing wild by the roadsides. And the huge, imposing, ruined fort of Dun Aengus – worth far more to see than the 3 euros we paid.
10. London, England. (Too many times to count by now.) Oxford has stolen my heart, but London will always have a little piece of it, because it was the first European city I’ve ever visited, and I was there on New Year’s Eve 1999, standing on a bench singing “Seasons of Love” with Jon.
11. Disney World. (May 1996; summer 2001.) I know, I know – cheesy, right? But we’ve been twice as a family, and despite Florida’s oppressive humidity, we managed to have So. Much. Fun.
12. Tipp City, Ohio (or a farm outside of it). (Every childhood summer of my life.) My grandparents, until I was 12, lived in a blue farmhouse with no air-conditioning, a red kitchen, lots of old books and fabric, an ancient water pump surrounded by gladiolas, and a big vegetable garden. The woods were literally out the back door, and raspberries grew in the front yard. Despite the bugs, it was paradise.
13. Neosho, Missouri. This is where my dad’s mother still lives – in the house he grew up in. We went for Thanksgiving this year, and I love it as much as I ever did.
14. Las Vegas, NV. (May 1999; December 2006.) Vegas is all flash and cash – no soul – so I can’t spend more than a couple of days there without longing for something solid, something real. However, Lance Burton the magician and Barry Manilow the crooner are both utterly fantastic, and I’ve seen them there.
15. Edinburgh, Scotland. (February 2004.) My only visit to “Auld Reekie” was during a frigid Valentine’s Day weekend, when Jeremiah was 5000 miles away – but we still had a fabulous time. We ate hot stuffed jacket potatoes on the street, stayed at a hostel under the ramparts of Edinburgh Castle, listened to the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, and hiked out to Cramond Island, on the firth, with a tall Australian whom I still count as a friend.
16. Oahu, Hawaii. (July 2005.) I spent a blissful month working with a church, making friends with a bulldog named Daisy, eating malassadas (Portuguese doughnuts, and oh MY, they are delicious) and driving the “blue whale” (the van) around town. And Cole and I went swing dancing at the Kahala Mandarin. That was the high life.
17. Durango, Colorado. (Two Decembers in high school.) I hadn’t thought about our church ski trips in ages – but the Winter Olympics always bring them to mind again. I’m a novice skier at best, but I love it – and I love the hot chocolate afterward.
18. Barcelona, Granada, Salobrena, Malaga and Madrid, Spain. (March 2004.) Despite the fact that our trip ended with the bombing of the Madrid train station by a bunch of terrorists, we had an incredible Spring Break touring Espana, eating tapas, playing cards in hostels, and wading in the frigid Mediterranean.
19. Valencia, Spain. (February 2008.) A welcome antidote to cold gray winter in Oxford. I hopped a plane and spent three days eating croissants and tapas, drinking cafe con leche (and a little Spanish wine), touring cathedrals and drinking orange juice. With Cole and a bunch of students. Sublime.
20. Pamplona and San Sebastian, Spain. (September 2009.) My first big trip with Jeremiah since our wedding, and his first trip to the land of his ancestors. Beaches, more tapas, bulls, cathedrals, a naval museum and lots of books.
I should probably stop here – this isn’t exhaustive, but it hits the highlights of my travel-life so far. (Next week I’m adding New York to the list. So. Excited.)
Where have you traveled and what did you love about it?
Wow! Your list is extensive. I would love to travel more… hard to do on two weeks of vacation a year!
Oh I love this list. It’s wonderful to live this particular kind of life and to realize that you are all at once made up of so many different moments in so many different places.
I will say there is nothing more magical for me than the day I spent in Kolkata’s Bagmari slum celebrating Holi. It’s magic, feeling the thumb of a stranger rub red or blue or pink in a streak from cheek to chin while you watch colors run in the gutter.
Great list. I’m too lazy to list my travels, but I think my best trip ever was our Central California tour in September 2006. So much beauty.
From your list, I’ve been to Oxford, Salzburg, Paris, London, and Disney World, and yes, the special memories come up.
You know about my favorite place, of course, because I’m here right now! And out of my limited UK/Europe adventures, rainy Spain was my favorite. Tostadas in Pamplona and looking out over infinite waters in San Sebastian…perfect.
Can’t wait to hear about NYC! I hope you love it. My mother went into labor with me at Macy’s. I like to say I was born shopping. 🙂
[…] List No. 5: Place I have been February 23, 2010 (I’m taking this cue from Katie at Cakes, Tea and Dreams!) […]
This kind of list, one with memories attached, is so much more meaningful than simply saying I’ve been here and there.
I might steal this for my own blog sometime.