Wandering Dave's Blog!

I just can't wait to get on the road again.

Wanderlust. What a perfect word for that restless feeling many of us get whenever we hear that lonesome whistle blow (I'm less than a mile from the tracks in Central California and hear them often) or when we see someone else pull into the gas station with their vehicle packed with supplies.

John Steinbeck, who also set off on a search for America when he was my age, called it "the urge to be someplace else." Of course, I'm not the writer he was, but I'm not ruling out the notion of writing a book about my upcoming four corners tour.

Dreams of being footloose and fancy free, of seeing the other side of the mountain, of chasing after some dream or another
aren't the province of any one age group.

Steinbeck met one youngster who shared the itchy-feet syndrome and explained the encounter as follows:

One small boy about 13 years old came back every day, He stood apart shyly and looked at (my camper); he peered in the door, even lay on the griound and studied the heavy-duty springs. He was a silent, ubiquitious small boy. He even came at night to stare... After a week, he could stand it no longer. His words wrestled their way hell-bent through his shyness. He said, "If you'll take me with you, why, I'll do anything. I'll cook, I'll wash all the dishes, and do all the work and I'll take care of you."
Unfortunately for me I knew his longing. "I wish I could, " I said. "But the school board and your parents and lots of others say I can't."
"I'll do anything," he said. And I believe he would. I don't think he ever gave up until I drove away without him. He had the dream I've had all my life, and there is no cure.

I suppose the fact that we're drawn so powerfully toward the unknown results in a sense that there must be something very important to be learned on the road. Whether that's true or not probably depends on how well the traveller does keeping eyes open and seeking meaning from the experience.

Come along with me and help make this trip-of-a-lifetime more meaningful.

Your comments are welcome here; and you are invited to visit the Wandering Dave forum where you can discuss specific locations and general topics with others who love to travel.