December 22 – Travel: How did you travel in 2010? How and/or where would you like to travel next year? (Author: Tara Hunt)
I traveled more in 2010 than in any of the previous years. Two cross country trips, a trip to Tucson, a weekend trip to Dana Point... and when I re-read today's prompt I realize it doesn't ask me where I went, it asks me "how" did I travel.
I traveled unconventionally, like I primarily live unconventionally.
I couchsurfed on each trip I took. The tag line for this awesome grassroots organization is "Participate in Creating a Better World, One Couch At A Time". If you haven't visited the couchsurfing website, I strongly encourage you to do so. It makes travel so much more interesting. Before we couchsurfed, my kids and I would get to our destinations, check into the hotel, swim in the pool, eat a meal, watch a little TV and then figure out our destination as suggested by the AAA guidebook or other tourist-like recommendations. After couchsurfing, we would arrive at our destination, get to know our hosts and get an insider view to the city we were visiting.
We would chat and laugh, sometimes share a meal or a cup of tea ~ we never knew exactly what to expect and we liked it that way.
The first Summer we did this, I wasn't sure how my son (who is on the autism spectrum) would deal with this. After all, the experts say "when traveling with your spectrum child, always stay at the same motel so your child will know just what to expect." I did the extreme opposite: went to homes that were completely different, ate different types of foods, had different sorts of sleeping arrangements. All we knew is the name, the address and maybe something about our hosts.
It got to be that my children would complain when we checked into hotels.
They knew when we couchsurfed we would meet interesting people with stories to tell. Sometimes they had children of similar ages. They always knew the cool places the normal tourists didn't know. They tended to have similar hearts and world views as I have, which is that the world is a place to connect, to love, to learn, to grow, to inspire and be inspired.
My children also love showing our couchsurfing friends around when they come to visit. We have had visitors from Germany, Kazahkstan and the Czech Republic. We don't usually host in the winter but will start up again come Spring.
This year I have another East Coast trip planned. My daughter is a first year student at Smith College and my son has never seen it there. It will help him to understand the situation better. Today she is home after being gone since August. He is so pleased and is "getting" it. I think seeing the house where she lives and knowing she isn't gone permanently will help him feel more secure. And this way I can revisit some of the places I fell in love with, really immerse myself, and do some more exploring about New England.
I am also planning to get passports this year to make international travel a greater likelihood. I want to be ready.
My wanderlust is definitely engaged.
So while I have one trip planned for 2010, my hope is many more will come. I am not sure where my Writing Camps will take me, for example, but I know the writing, the people I meet, and the adventures will be grander than I could expect at this point. 2011 is my year for Abondanza, after all. So, Abondanza in travel it is!
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