As usual in spring, I've got itchy feet. No, not athlete's foot, you jerks. It's my passport. I'm halfway through its expiration date and it languishes still unstamped in my purse, pulled out only for domestic travel ID since 9/11 and the increasingly rare moments when I'm carded at the liquor store (always when buying tequila. What is it about tequila that makes me look younger? Hmmm.)
But this year, more than usual, I'm feeling a certain desperation about getting the hell out of Dodge. I haven't been out of the country (not counting Canada, which doesn't count, really) since 1984, and while New York is endlessly fascinating and I'm sure there are depths of it which remain unplumbed by me, it's too familiar, and too full of people I know and love. I've had kind of a hectic social life lately, which has been both good and bad. Good, in that I love seeing my friends, and it's cheering that I have so many good friends. It's also distracted me from the mess my life has been lately, and kept me from sinking into the slough of despond. Friends: cheaper than therapy or drugs and twice the fun. It's been bad because I'm one of those people who needs a fair amount of down-time alone, to just think or read or work on my own projects. Between packing moving, painting, unpacking (I'm still unpacking books; my bookcases just came yesterday), various projects and personal crises, I haven't had much downtime for myself and I'm starting to feel it. My emotions are pretty raw right now and I'm not sleeping well again (still?).
So I've been buying guidebooks, reading travel sections, poking around the net for good deals. Rob and I have that trip to Japan in our future, but I need to go somewhere for a week or so before that, and soon. I thought about a long weekend in Chicago with Paul and much as I want to see him (and probably will), it's not enough, and I'll be running around meeting his friends too. I thought about hopping down to Charleston with Sally for the weekend; same thing. What I need, I think, is to go somewhere unfamiliar, out of the country, where I don't know anyone and won't have any demands made on me. Em suggest somewhere I don't speak the language, which actually sounds far less intimidating that it used to and downright restful. A good map, a guidebook, a pocket dictionary: I'm off.
The question is, where?
It needs to be some place big enough for me to get around by public transport or on my two feets, with some good museums and some history. Amsterdam has come to mind. And, oddly enough, Reykjavík, which has a butt-kicking arts festival. Dublin, maybe, though that doesn't count in the language department, and is in the general vicinity of many friends in Great Britain, or Barcelona, though it's a little on the warmish side for me. I'm afraid if I go back to Edinburgh, it won't live up to my memories after 20 years and besides I've been there. Prague might be cool. Vienna?
On the other hand, when I think about making reservations, finding a hotel, and learning to get around a new place, it seems like an impossible undertaking. Which says something about my state of mind. Lately, I can't seem to make a decision about anything, and not only that, I don't want to. This is not a good combination with wanderlust.
Maybe I'll just buy a guidebook to New York, turn off my phone, take a week off, and go to all the places I haven't visited here yet, and sit in a couple of new cafes and write . . .
Please let me put in a vote for Barcelona.
They do not speak English, and while they speak Spanish, the official language is whatever that Basque language is with all the x's. However, should you wish to speak English, there are Irish bars and hostels. It is easy to navigate because there is a main drag of Las Ramblas to which everything else is relative. You can do day trips to the mountains OR to the beach. There are museums. There is the Sagrada Familia, which is a very healing space. Barcelona has really great energy and is a good place to write. I went there by myself and never wanted to leave.
Viva Barcelona!
Posted by: Em | May 02, 2005 at 09:22 PM
It's not cheap for you, but when people get off island, they go to Bali. The country itself is cheap, the hiking/trekking/diving/beaching is astounding, and the hill country filled with temples is fascinating. I will go this summer.
Everybody tells me how beautiful and fun the Philippine Islands are. I have many students from PI, and they seem to love going back.
Palau has been described to me as so Technicolor saturated that it's as if you're on drugs. The photos I have seen confirm this.
You will pay a pretty penny for these experiences, though. Sorry. Rob
Posted by: Rob | May 03, 2005 at 10:08 PM