my whole life, i wanted to go to paris. after studying french for seven years, i was enchanted by the language and the culture. i wanted to eat croissants and hot chocolate for breakfast in paris (check), and crepes with nutella for every other meal in paris (check). i wanted to practice my french in paris (check), and buy a coat that i could say i bought in paris...in paris (check). also, i wanted to stroll (check check check), because people in europe stroll and we do not.
i went for a week a couple of years ago right after christmas and it was magical and beautiful and amazing and i loved every second of it...even when my lower back started to hurt from the five days of constant walking. i was actually really happy to get on the plane home. did the back thing taint my experience? the antibiotic to my travel bug? not at all. do i have the insatiable desire to travel all over the world because paris was lovely? nope.
so i've been trying to understand why people feel the need to travel. not just desire, no. the need. i realize i could just ask one of my well-traveled friends, but instead i read this article...
i had one of those magical moments that he talks about. well, i had lots of them in paris (rodin! signac! sacre coeur! l'entrecote!) but the best, by far, was coming out of the metro on a foggy night and rounding the corner of the trocadero to see the eiffel tower all lit up and glittering during the holiday light show. i ran to the edge of the terrace, like i was going to get a better view being 20 feet closer. it was breathtaking. i still get excited thinking about it. that moment satisfies me. it sustains me in moments that i feel a little caged sitting at my desk.
a moment captured by mom, made trendy by editing.
and the next one, because it was a gift from the dslr photography gods #mom'sgotanicecamera. let's just say, when you try to auto-fix it, nothing changes.
sigh. le million euro photo taken by yours truly.
and now, as i've made sure to announce to everyone i know, and several people i don't, my mother is a flight attendant again. shout out to pan am paula's unlimited travel benefits, from 1985 until their demise in 1991 (i think we bled them dry with all our trips to europe). what does this all mean? i can travel internationally for prices that would make your head spin. so i will. but, i should admit...i don't think i'm as excited about it as i should be. i know! there are a hundred thousand people that would kill for those benefits and i'm basically an ingrate. no! i'm not! i'm grateful, and my heart flutters a little at the thought of eating parm in parma. but i have a job, and the airport is so far away, you know? terrible excuses...just really terrible.
can we please just break down alex, the well-traveled article writer's favorite quote? "i haven't been everywhere, but it's on my list." really? that sounds exhausting. to those of you that might find a friend in alex, please, don't beat me up. besides, my hipster disdain for wanderlust is seriously suffocating me enough as it is.
so, who wants to go on a trip?
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