The Fifth Day

"Live, travel, adventure, bless, and don't be sorry."

— Jack Kerouac

Day 05 → Something you hope to do in your life.

It really starts and ends with my dad, I think. My wanderlust must be a product of his own. The guy loves to be on the move, and as Robert Louis Stevenson said, "I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel's sake. The great affair is to move." That is the way his mind must work- no matter if the destination is his hometown (about 45 minutes away) or across the country, I think he gets a little bit of the same high. Family vacations were always lots of fun, from small camping trips to a string of big cities. There are discoveries and there is a sense of newness. There's adventure.

I would love to travel all the time- if I won the lottery, that's how I would spend my millions. I think travel writers have quite possibly the best job in the entire universe. But there's more to it than just that. Because ever since I was a kid, I've had one destination, one goal in mind. It's been plastered all over my walls as a teenager, framed in picture frames now, promised to me by any significant boy in my life, obsessed over, and daydreamed about...

England.

(said in whispery awe)

I don't remember the exact moment that this became a desire; a need to taste, touch, smell, devour every bit of British culture. I've had a thing for listening to Tony Blair in Parliament since I was a teenager. Something must have set it off. I do know that going to London, visiting the countryside, listening to all the beautiful accents, feeling the cold English rain on my face are all things I NEED to experience.

Admittedly, part of this is much like Petula Clark's feelings for downtown. Although I've never been there, I can tell you without a doubt that England is perfect. Even the rainy days are soft and poetic. You have amazing tea and scones. You have roses wildly climbing your lovely country cottage. There are clean, non-smelly sheep in the field behind you. There is a fire in the fireplace at night. Somehow, it is always night and mysterious, but it's also always sunny in a soft, filtered sort of way. Life is simple, quiet, and oh-so-British.

They even have nice teeth and good food there.