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2023.1102 Nathan Phillips Square, Toronto, Canada. Credit: Mzuriana.
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What I did:
My descendant, Tab, and I went to Toronto for a week. This allowed Tab to use his passport for the very first time. My former
TLG colleague, Sandy, kindly rented her place to us, and she hung out
with her sister in outer Toronto. The trip also counted toward the Big City travelution.
I can't say I camped several months consecutively, but I sure as hellish-summer-heat did a hella camping in 2023. I'm absolutely counting this as a travelution completed. I camped in: Arizona, Louisiana, Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, New Mexico, Ohio, and Texas.
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| 2023.1003 Campsite at Finger Lakes State Park in Columbia, Missouri. Credit: Mzuriana. |
What I didn't:
Although they still call to me, I did not go to Romania, Vietnam or Senegal in 2023. They're on my 2024-2025 list, though.
Haven't made it to Houston, and it, too, is on my list for 2024/2025.
Nope, not Alaska yet for the return trip. But it's definitely on the 2025 list.
Below were my 2023 travelutions, published on December 31, 2022
For 2023, here's what other folks intend to aspire to will do:
**crickets**
Yeah,
I drew a blank, not for the wont of lists that exist, but for the wont
of finding any lists that inspired me, amused me, or surprised me. Not
because I'm so worldly, and certainly not that I'm world-weary. No, it's
because the dozens of lists I viewed offered the bullets of low-hanging
fruit that we've all seen before, like: go somewhere new, try solo
travel, stayvacate, etc. Or it's because the target audience has far
more money and disposable time than most of us do.
I'm gonna divide my own list into two parts:
- Destination possibilities
- Travel practices or activities
My list of potential travel destinations for 2023
- Trips to Vietnam, Romania, and Senegal (or thereabouts).
Why these three? I have current or past students in the first two
destinations, and because I've got a hankering to do that motor scooter
thing that Phil in the Blank
and a partner started up a few years back. Have I ever been on a motor
scooter? Well, no. Maybe I'll take lessons somewhere first. That's on my
list, too.
- A one-to-three month stay in Toronto, renting a friend's
apartment in the city while she travels elsewhere. The only challenge
is that in her perfect world, we'd do this during the winter, which she
would like to escape. In my perfect world, fuck no, it's too cold! So
we'll see how that all works out.
- A visit somewhere with my youngest descendant, Jet
- A
one-week visit to another Big City with my descendant, Tab (current
contenders: Chicago, Las Vegas, Toronto), as a follow-on to a trip we
took to NYC in September 2022
- A few weeks in Houston, with a gluttonous consumption of zydeco music and dance
- Several consecutive months of camping
- I'd
still like to do another road trip to Alaska (which I did with daughter
Kit a long time ago), but that might be better for 2024, when Jet has a
driver's license.
My 2023 list of travel practices or activities
- For
the past decade, my rootlessness followed a model of one-year temporary
residencies in different locations. With 2023, I am thinking to change
this to quarterly moves, and even monthly moves, depending on the
seasons and destinations. My tentative plan all along has been to settle
in to a permanent home base in mid-2025, so accelerating my movement
pattern for these next two and a half years feels attractive.
- Embark on and complete a list of creative projects that incorporate
writing, family letters, and photographs. This practice relates to
travel in that I will need to consciously choose locations and spaces
that are conducive to peaceful blocks of time to invest in these
projects.
- OK, so here's a practice that didn't hit my
rootless radar until very recently: Establish medical relationships in
convenient locations for effective continuity of care, record keeping,
and oversight for:
- Routine screenings
- Management
of noncritical conditions that require some oversight, or just those
things that one needs to keep an eye on because of potential development into something that requires intervention
- In the event something serious develops, there's already a relationship with a health care provider I trust and who knows me
Past travelutions posts
