It was 2008 and I didn’t know it at the time but this is when the wanderlust began. It started with a phone call, a call I almost didn’t pick up. After all, I have a house full of guests, the number was not familiar and I was tired of spam calls but was ready to say, “Please, take me off your call list.” It turned out to be our son traveling in India. Thankfully he was fine, the adventure of traveling and volunteer work had been exhausting the past eight weeks and he found it was more fun to travel with someone. “Would you like to join me for the last four weeks?” “You can meet me in Singapore.”, He said. “Well,” I said, “Am I your first choice?” “No, but you’re not doing anything since you don’t work for MOPS anymore.”, He reminds me.
Now, I’m mouthing this conversation to my husband and he nods yes, sure, why not! And I say, “Yes, I’d love to.” In just a week I will leave for Singapore. Yes, I have a passport but you have to know I’ve never thought of traveling to SE Asia. In fact, if you asked me where I wanted to travel, I would never have said, Asia. It’s too hot, too third-world, too many bugs, too out of my comfort zone. Besides, what’s really there to see? No, it’s all about Europe, that’s where I’d like to travel. Now some of my kids thought just the opposite. They wanted; adventure, someplace not like the US, someplace, completely different and that thought seemed so strange to me.
My guests cannot know what will be happening to me in just a week. My guests are visiting from Pennsylvania and they are my four sisters-in-law. I don’t want them to think, I’m too busy or take time away from them. So, my shopping for travel clothes, shoes, incidentals, vaccines, buy tickets on-line and going to Rick Steves for a backpack happened early in the mornings or late at night. Backpack. Did I write a backpack? Did you read, backpack? I’m going backpacking. Backpacking for four weeks. I keep telling myself, I can do this but I’m really not sure. Never out of the country, I’m not counting Canada and Mexico. Never backpacking, well, a couple of disastrous trips with Frank, 30 years ago. I’m out of shape, I’m out of my comfort zone, nervous, scared even but I’m doing it.
