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Saturday, December 30, 2023

Close-Out on My 2023 Travelutions (and Before That, Too)

 

2023.1102 Nathan Phillips Square, Toronto, Canada. Credit: Mzuriana.
2023.1102 Nathan Phillips Square, Toronto, Canada. Credit: Mzuriana.

 

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.


2023.1003 Campsite at Finger Lakes State Park in Columbia, Missouri. Credit: Mzuriana.
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: 

  1. Destination possibilities
  2. 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

  1. 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. 
  2. 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. 
  3. 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

 

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