I love to travel. With the exception of the motor marathons I used to take as a kid, where we would drive between one grandparents' and anothers' between Christmas and New Year, often with me squished between two seats playing with Colorforms and wondering when I could have the feeling back in my lower extremeties, I have loved travel for a long time. Travelling from Seattle to Des Moines with no overnight stop? Yeah. Long fucking drive.

As far back as I can remember, I have wanted to get the hell out of dodge (if dodge=Texas, and x=y, then x=strong desire to flee the Lone Star State laughing and giving the finger as I crossed the state line). And it was a big dream, something that consumed my thoughts and desires (and my bedroom walls, actually, as I was such a dork that I bypassed Duran Duran, New Kids on the Block, and Will Smith, substituting realistic teenage canvases with such pictoral orgasms as Brandenburg Gate, Norwegian Fjords, and the French Provence poster that is proudly displayed at every La Madeleine I've ever been inside). Maybe it comes from moving around so much as a kid, maybe it's because my father travelled to the far-flung parts of the world when I was a kid, travelling as he was on TDY so much, I don't know. All I know is that's all I have ever wanted, ever.

It started early, this travel bug. I may travel a fair amount now, but it hasn't always been like that, I was a one trip a year girl for many years. My first trip ever, to Paris, was done on a budget that didn't even qualify to be called "shoestring". It involved stealing croissants and applesauce from the hotel's breakfast buffet to suffice as lunch and dinner (the backpack I carried around Paris had to be trashed when I got home, it had so many croissant oil marks it was translucent in places). My trip was paid for by borrowed money, and while I was there I lived like a pauper.

I had a fantastic time. I was 20 years old and the bug had bitten me.

I came back and arranged for my employer (all three of them, thank you University of Texas) to take extra income tax from my paycheck, so that when the income tax refund came in it would be in one chunk of dough to pay for a vacation during Spring Break. I lived paycheck to paycheck, finding out how long checks took to reach creditors and clear, the cheapest places to buy gas, and I could float a check like it was made out of dandelion seeds. I think I am the one who single-handedly brought down the Arby's 5-for-5 deal to 3-for-5, cause I would buy 5 of those bad boys and have them last me a week, to hell with green-edged roast beef! So when that income check came in, there was only one thing to do with it-every penny of it went to a vacation.

And thus would ensue me spending many hours on the phone, the yellow pages spread open before me and amounts written on every page (Dear Baby Jesus-thank you for the internet. It has made travelling so much easier. I hate SWB yellow pages. Thank you and have a nice day.) I would wrench every cent from that income tax refund so that it could get me where I wanted to go, and it worked-everytime I came back with just enough money to buy a Happy Meal, but dammit I did it.

I got lots of weird looks. Once an employer wrinkled her nose and said what did I want to go to travel for, when I could buy an above ground pool? So wouldn't red chlorine eyes be way more preferable than seeing the Colosseum? Isn't it better to fend off all neighbors in a 3 mile radius and burn up the water bill in a drought-ridden Texas than get on an airplane and escape the heat? People thought I was mental to exhaust myself-and my income-on one lousy trip a year.

But it was what I wanted.

It is still something that excites and motivates me no end. It's been asked here on the site (and by some of my family members) that why am I travelling so much, what am I running away from? I don't see it like that. I don't escape anything when I travel, I'm still me when I go away, me with all the glorious problems that I already contain. But when I go somewhere new, I get to see things I never dreamed of. I get to talk to people, and walk on roads, and light candles in churches, and swim in waters so crystal blue I could never possibly have done them justice in my imagination. To me, life is too short to not see what else is out there. Maybe someday I will be in one place only, and I will need those memories of what it was like ot be somewhere else to make me smile.

You never know.

Travelling is easier now. I don't have to scrimp and save all year, while at the same time I know I won't be having an extended visit in the Waldorf any time soon. We both put money away each month in what we call our travel fund, and that fund gets raided once a year. And all of those years of working so hard for holidays has given me one massive benefit-

I can find a travel bargain.

I can spend days planning it, just to get the best deal I can. And Angus is also a master at massaging the internet to get us good deals. It's all about trying to be creative and putting up with a bit of inconvenience to do so.

We've been spending the last of our most precious holiday weekends getting ready for our next holiday coming up in February (well, he spent one day on it while I was laid up with a bad back, then I spent one day on it while he helped his mate hang a satellite dish. Tag team effort really.) This is one of two big holidays a year we want, as this one is the one that his kids have a week off of school and so we keep them out for another week to get more bang for their holiday buck. Research was tense.

"Look at this Helen!" He would shout excitedly while surfing the web on the laptop. "We can get an extra day in Kyoto if we're willing to stay in Lansing, Michigan for twelve hours!"

"Not bad," I say considering. "But what about this one I just found? We can go to Jamaica for £499 a person, if we leave before the full eclipse but not before the ice dancing in the winter Olympics."

"The finals?"

"It says here in terms and conditions 'Semi-finals'."

"Well that's ok then. Let's short-list it."

We surf some more. "Helen! I've found it! It's perfect!" Angus says with breathless wonder. "We can go hiking to Machu Pichu on camels and drink dodgy ciprhianis if we're willing to do an overnighter outside of Phoenix, Arizona!"

"Is that staying in an airport Ramada?"

"No, it says we'd be staying in local traditional dwellings."

"Abort! Abort!" I scream. "That means adobe huts, and we are going with two Swedish children that haven't seen the sun since early 2005! It'll be like sleeping in a kiln, when we wake up we'll have two kids we can use as cremation urns or an attractive fruit bowl!"

Angus pales and nods.

In the end, we manage to work that internet over like an Atkins dieter falling off the wagon with the Pillsbury Dough Boy. Last night, we clicked "confirm", much to the sweat and stress of the two of us, and we now have a holiday booked. We haven't sorted out all the hotels yet, but I am researching through this week to do so. We've pushed the boat out on this holiday and will be gone for 15 days (although two of those days are lost with us fucking around the International Dateline. I told Angus last night that he would have to explain the International Dateline to his young son as he might not understand it, and he shrugged and said he would but that his son already understood it. To which I wanted to secretly whisper: OK, actually, I wanted you to explain it to ME as I don't understand it. Oh well.)

We leave the end of February for the Cook Islands (in the South Pacific, which narrowly won out over Tahiti and Moorea) and New Zealand.

Yessssss.

-H.

PS-am trying to build a Flickr photoalbum that will run in the sidebar on my blog. If anyone knows how to do this, please let me know as I may kill people soon, or at the very least, walk away from Flickr.

Posted by: Everydaystranger at 08:19 AM | Comments (14) | Add Comment
Post contains 1525 words, total size 8 kb.

1 Lucky girl! I am sure you will all have a wonderful time. There have only ever been two things i wanted to do - like you, travel is one of them. abs x

Posted by: abs at January 03, 2006 10:21 AM (Z5qG3)

2 Oh you'll love it! And watch all the other New Zealanders crawl out of the woodwork too ...

Posted by: jac at January 03, 2006 10:22 AM (7PmGU)

3 So where does Hong Kong fit in?

Posted by: Mia at January 03, 2006 11:10 AM (xBHpt)

4 I love you... and am so thoroughly jealous of you and that trip that I have defined a whole new shade of green! Can not wait to see the photos...

Posted by: stinkerbell at January 03, 2006 02:07 PM (QcMkT)

5 I love to travel too. I need to start playing the lotto. Cook Islands and New Zealand - both I have heard are beautiful! Take lots of pics. Speaking of which I am on flickr but have not done a badge thingy for a blog. Found these though: http://www.flickr.com/help/photos/#53 http://www.flickr.com/badge_new.gne

Posted by: Lee at January 03, 2006 02:15 PM (PYZOC)

6 Helen, I bet you are the ultimate in travel partners! Wish I could go too. This is so funny; I have a kid who is as fod of travel as you are - she will love reading this. Can't help with Flickr, but I hope someone can, because I want to see your photos!

Posted by: kenju at January 03, 2006 03:26 PM (xO1SY)

7 Re Flickr. You could use their Zeitgeisty thing (http://flickr.com/fun/zeitgeist/) but that's a little small. There is a plugin for MT (http://jimfl.tensegrity.net/MovableTypeFlickrPhotosets/) but that would mean Mr Pixy rolling up his sleeves. Alternatively I could probably work something up in PHP using the API if you'd like. Just holla. Oh and happy new year H ... here's to new horizons

Posted by: Rob at January 03, 2006 04:44 PM (9UJHr)

8 Helen, There is a link to click on flickr, it isn't hard, but it is tedious because it involves setting a tag on each of the flickr photos you want people to be able to see from your blog. It's just cutting and pasting some code from there. E-mail me or instant message me (yahoo: pillars_of_color) and I'll help you if you need it.

Posted by: trouble at January 03, 2006 04:58 PM (j2vfb)

9 (In a breathless whisper) oooooh... new zealand. Melting. In. Envy. Love, me

Posted by: Elizabeth at January 03, 2006 06:24 PM (uqPyj)

10 You are my hero.

Posted by: RP at January 03, 2006 07:49 PM (LlPKh)

11 "Look at this Helen!" He would shout excitedly while surfing the web on the laptop. "We can get an extra day in Kyoto if we're willing to stay in Lansing, Michigan for twelve hours!" I just spit my damn Diet Pepsi when I read that. I used to live in Lansing and I just don't think you want to bother spending 12 hours there. trust me. as for your trip, I am terribly jealous. it sounds FABULOUS. my husband and I would LOVE to go to New Zealand at some point in our lives together. I'm sure you'll have a wonderful time and you'd better take lots of pictures!

Posted by: girl at January 03, 2006 09:50 PM (NDI2V)

12 I second the badge idea. Create an album on Flickr and point the badge at it, then put the badge code in your sidebar. If everything in your photostream is public, we'll be able to see it all (this is a hint to change things to private or family/friends if you don't want to show it.)

Posted by: B. Durbin at January 04, 2006 05:59 AM (tie24)

13 Sounds like traveling is in your soul and what you said about you going with you and seeing other things that are out there is sooo true...And GOOD FOR YOU! I don't travel any more for heakth reasins and I was never a GREAT traveler..but, I am so glad I took every trip I ever did cause I HAVE those memories now and it is wonderful to have them..AMEN! Enjoy that trip in February...it sounds Fantastic and I'll be looking for those photo's...

Posted by: OldOldLady Of The Hills at January 04, 2006 08:06 AM (fIFYa)

14 How fun! I love travel, but am a homebody and love home more. Such a conflict. Home usually wins. I'll just live vicariously through you... figure out the pics and share, share, share!

Posted by: sue at January 04, 2006 07:24 PM (WbfZD)

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