From Here to There

I went on a trip last week. A special occasion. One that I frankly never thought I'd get celebrate. But I did, so I went. And it was fun!

Except for the getting there and the getting back that is. I hate that part. Every time I travel I try to psyche myself up for it. Talk myself out of the foul mood (and mouth) that I have by the time I reach my destination. I just hate it so very much. Drive the car to the parking lot, take the parking lot shuttle to the airport, take the airport train to the plane, take the plane to the next airport, take the train (or tram or whatever that particular airport is calling it) to the baggage claim, take the shuttle to the car rental place, drive the rental car to the hotel....

HATING IT!!

Right about the time I get to the car rental place I am fit to be tied. So pissed off. Irrational, I know, but it just drives me nuts, all of the transferring of bodies and luggage and purses and carry-ons and just OMG all of the CRAP!

None of that even addresses the fear I have of traveling. I never liked the idea of dying in a car or plane crash, of course, but ever since I had Emma, that fear multiplied exponentially. If she's with me I worry that her life will be cut short or that she'll be maimed or paralyzed and have to live with the trauma of that. And if she's not with me, I worry about dying and leaving her behind without her mom and having to live with the trauma of that. It's a lose-lose.

This was compounded last week by the fact that it occurred to me as the plane took off from Atlanta-Hartsfield Airport, how completely and utterly INSANE flying is. I mean, it really is - INSANE. It's just nuts. But all transportation is, I guess. Hundreds of millions of us get inside these little rooms with seats in them and proceed to roll about on these things called roads so we can get from here to there quicker than our feet can take us.

Then, when we fly we still get in a little room - a long tubular room - and sit our asses down and then we let another person - the pilot - rev those engines full speed and lift the tubular room that we're all sitting in (that includes a gas tank with hundreds of gallons of flammable liquid in it) OFF THE GROUND AND INTO THE SKY. All so we can get from here to there faster than our cars or buses or trains or subways can take us.

It's crazy stuff, I tell ya. CRA-ZY.

But here's the kicker. I love to travel. I want to see every country in the world. I want to experience other cultures. I want to meet the people and smell the smells and see the sights. Whenever asked, "What would you do if you had a million dol----" They don't even have to finish their question. My answer is always a definitive, "Travel."

So, I suck it up and try to do better with my mood and patience each time I go somewhere. I work hard not to think about how totally bonkers it is to put myself on these various modes of transportation. And I always try to remember that, for me, traveling is not about the journey and all about the destination.