The Global Redhead

The Travel Urge Hits Me Hard.

UNITED KINGDOM | Tuesday, 28 October 2008 | Views [189]

The walk to work usually gives me too much time to think about things. And today, I was thinking about the world.

I have a huge passion for travelling and have already clocked up a fair few countries on my travel tab. However, the journey bug has got to me again - this time I crave adventure. I was walking along to the intensely emotional track 'Silver' by Joolz Gianni looking out to sea and I was suddenly hit with an overwhelming sense of depression! I wanted to be out there, crossing the sea and having adventures.

It has been ages since I have truley travelled. Although the Netherlands and Honduras this spring were fantastic, they were feild trips and so I wasn't able to do many of the things I would have liked too. The last time I had a good sense of travel was in New Zealand with one of my most treasured friends, John. We explored as much of the South Island as we could in three weeks - which wasn't enough, but all we had. It was great, going where you wanted, finding places to stay the night and all that jazz. The previous trip to India and Australia has to top the 'adventure' charts for me so far. Being accosted by the locals, sharing dinner with real indian families in real indian slums, eating stuff I wouldn't recognise even if it still possesed it's leg's, having the car we were sat in almost rolled over by an angry mob of adolecent males and losing our expensive plane tickets to Oz in the middle of bustling Delhi was quite something! At the time, I spent a lot of time paranoid and/or terrorfied but looking back, it was the best time of my life! Australia was a complete blast and we had so much fun, especially in the backpackers lodges and hostals. I will never forget my time in Sydney.

So I am still walking, it's sunny but bitterly cold. Yet this is plesant. Another track comes on, and frustratingly it is about some people 'going home across the mountains'. So I fall into another state of longing. I think of the movie The Beach, and want something from that movie to be my own experience. It also doesn't help when I have plenty of friends who have done/are doing/will be doing travelling of an extensive nature. A friend from uni (another Jon) is currently in South America having a totally amazing time. Two other friends (Nick and Becky) have been living and working in Australia for a year now and show no signs of coming home! Another friend called Stacey (second name Johns!!), is in Africa doing all sorts of cool things with animals and game reserves. A good mate, Adam, has been on a globe trip that lasted him a year, my friend Jon (yes again) went to Japan not long ago and my sister has recently returned from Thailand. Also, I have just finished reading an awesome book about travel written by a friend who has so many amazing stories to tell (ANOTHER BLOODY JON!!).

So basically, their experiences are all rubbing salt into the wound. At this point I am feeling an incrediable urge to go home, dig my big hiking bag out and pack. Then just sod off.

Clear my bank account out and just fuck off, just like that.

But I don't, I go into work. I get home later after an uneventful ride on the bus and decide instead to vent my frustrations on FaceSpace. I don't want a 'holiday', I want to travel. See things.

I sink into the sofa at home, tucking into a Terry's Choc Orange bar while typing away here, wishing I was off on some sort of adventure - like the type people used to have when the edges of the maps weren't filled in, but were still blank spaces of wonder and intrigue. No flying either. I want to jump on and off trians, boats, buses and horse drawn carts and even hitchhike. Anything to get real experiences and a proper sense of distance and time. I've been saving up some money, just so I can do things like this. One day, when the pennies are sufficently stacked, I will get up and leave!

Perhaps I just need to latch on to a John/Jon and go with the ride, because they seem to have all the fun.