Travel Zen

I’m a Stranger Here Myself

“Success is the quality of your journey.”  An observation from some much wiser than I. (Or, perhaps just a better translator of fortune cookie epigrams? )While that’s an admirable wish(and are’nt they the best kind?) our journeys must often play second fiddle to the everpresent hydra of time and money. Our attempts  to juggle these “reality ballons” has a label. “Life.” And so, we simply do the best we can.

Been There/Done That(I think?)

Of course they’re always be the “doing-Europe-in-two -weeks  crowd. Responsible for that old joke where the European asks the tourist how he enjoyed his vacation. The reply – “Dunno. Have’nt got the pictures back yet.”  Obviously a “pre-digital” ha-ha. But, you get my drift dear reader. Do you not?

An Acid Head Clues Us In

The quality of our journeys is not how far we go and how much we see, but how we go far. And how much we experience. Aldous Huxley said it best: “Experience is not what happens to us. It’s what we do with what happens to us.” Wise words indeed. That can apply to any situation.

I Do it My Way

How you go far, bien sur, is a personal preference. Mine being, as you well know, the bicycle. Gliding down dappled country lanes, etc. –  which also offers the very real possibility of getting soaked in a summer shower on said country lanes. The result – depending on what you do with the experience can mean making new friends. The kind with a roof over the heads!

Travel Options

Travelling the French Country backroads by bicycle gives me a much more(ahem) “profund” experience because i’m moving slower and getting closer to what’s real than folks zooming by in the latest metal ‘n glass gas guzzler. If your chariot of choice is, say, a donkey – your experience will be even deeper. But,  obviously, not as deep as the one walkers will enjoy.

The Bottom Line

Ultimately, at the end of the day, when push comes to shove, when the rubber meets the road, when all things are considered, in the final analysis, after the fat lady has sung – your mode of transport is as irrelevant as the folks who use hackneyed expressions when summing up their ever so precious “thoughts.” Regardless of which choice works for you – the most essential piece of baggage is a mental suitcase full of “How you go Far.”

THROW  ME  A  BONE  HERE  PEOPLE!

What are ya thinkin”?