Oh George, I know exactly how you feel.
Call it wanderlust or fernweh, a German word meaning "an ache for the distance". I have an overpowering desire to go everywhere and see everything. Few things make me as happy as a packed bag by the front door, a boarding pass, a train ticket. Vintage maps and suitcases are just two of the many things that make my little southern housewife heart go pitter pat. I get unbelievably excited about old globes with names of places that don't exist anymore; British East Indies, Siam, The Belgian Congo...they conjure up images of travelers of long ago. I love old movies that revolve around people heading off on adventures or have wonderful transportation scenes. Eva Marie Saint and Cary Grant on a train in North by Northwest. When has a train ever been sexier than that? Two friends traveling to Italy in Enchanted April and coming alive again actually rings sort of true. The story of Isaak Dennison so beautifully told in Out of Africa made me desperately want a coffee farm...or Robert Redford or some combination of the two...never mind. I'm also a big fan of travel narratives written by those far more adventurous than myself. But we'll get to all that as soon as I unpack, which shouldn't take long. I travel light and believe that yes, when in Rome...
