Friday, August 5, 2016

The Birth of a Passion

As much as I now love it and the idea of it, I haven’t always been a traveller. Adventurer, yes (at least in my own mind), but not an avid traveller. My travels involved going to places in my imagination. Middle Earth, Narnia, A Long Time Ago In A Galaxy Far Far Away, etc. Actually travelling was always a dream, but I thought of it as unobtainable. I had a job and the desire to buy a house (preferably on an acreage in the country) and settle down. My family never travelled and so I never thought that option was available to me.

That changed in the winter of 2012. I spent seven (7) weeks travelling around Europe and seeing some of the most amazing sights that I could think of! Those seven weeks were spent visiting eleven (11) different countries, starting in Athens, Greece and ultimately ending in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem. Claims to be established in 1189.
That's 678 years before Confederation in Canada!!
I’ve always been a history buff and the chance to see some old ruins and buildings was one that I could not pass up. I mean, the ability to sit and have a pint of ale in a building that’s older than my home country… That’s something that you just can’t turn down. Castles and churches surrounded me at pretty much all times while I was over there and, needless to say, I was in a form of my own heaven.

Since then, my feet have been itching to be on the move. I went off to Spain in the summer 2015 and spent three glorious and relaxing weeks there before returning home to face reality yet again, but the thought of travel has never left my mind. Saturday, August 6th, I start a brief course in Japanese to prepare myself (ever so slightly) for the next trip on my agenda. Next June I intend to be in the Land of the Rising Sun, and with any luck that won’t be my only trip of that year.


I know, deep down in my heart, that I’m not yet meant to settle down. My feet long for the road and adventure is calling. As Bilbo used to tell Frodo: 'It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out of your door. You step onto the Road, and if you don't keep your feet, there is no knowing where you might be swept off to.'

Sinceriously,


-Chad

4 comments:

  1. If you start traveling it's likely you can't stop. We are on the road for three years now ;) happy travelling!

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    1. Completely agree, Marcelle! Once the urge hits you, it's there to stay!

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  2. When do your eastern adventures begin?

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    1. Alas, that chapter doesn't start until next year. May or June. But don't you worry. They WILL start, and I WILL write about them!!

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