vacation hot spots?
lounging endlessly with books
no need to travel
I remember when I was working the information desk at the Cascade Branch of the Kent District Library I was asked, “How do you know so much about the world?”
I answered that librarians had been everywhere, done everything and seen the world … just not in the first person.
When I was in college, I would roam the labyrinth of the Grad Library at the University of Michigan (reportedly some 5 million books on the shelf) and randomly take books of the shelves until my arms where full then I would sit in the reading room and disappear into the books.
What the library staff thought when they found my stacks of books left on the table, I never stuck around to find out.
This shelf surfing continues to this day, both online and in my local library.
Searching for the odd fact, photo, story or even recipe.
I was thinking about this because I keep reading stories about the best places for a vacation.
The 10 places you have to see before you die.
The 50 cities you have to visit.
It seemed to me that many of the descriptions included the phrase, “a great place to relax”.
A place to relax with a book.
I have to ask, “Why do I have to travel to relax?”
Travel headlines are about long lines, unreliable airplanes, reliably awful co-travelers and weather.
I am not a traveler.
I have no travel bucket list.
I have to say this is not a criticism of those of who do love to travel.
If you enjoy traveling, I am all for you.
I even admit, when I travel, I enjoy the opportuinty to see new things.
I sat on the front porch of the house were Elvis was born this year.
Top that!
For the most part, it is just not me.
I travel the world, just not in the first person.
Come aboard.
You will find me nearby.
Lounging endlessly through books, through the web.
No thought for time.
No need to travel.
No Haiku For You 