I have, in me..
aside from the usual foulness and snark, a thick, salty wanderlust.
From the moment I was old enough to move on my own, I always wanted to be elsewhere. I wanted to be in motion, and i little cared where that motion would lead.
I have anchored myself firmly to a family, and nothing will change that, but the type of job I do, travelling to a different place every week, sometimes sleeping in a different state each night, attenuates the wanderlust. I also have the opportunity to wander further at times, I have set foot on a couple different continents, and it felt good, felt right.
I often think that in the october of my life, if I make it that long, when the Oglet has moved on to her own life and family, when the Ogwife is sick to death of the stink of me, I think I might throw a pack in the back of the truck and drive until I can go no more, get on a plane or a boat and go further, possibly even strap my big ass to a rocket just to get off the planet, if only for an hour.
None of this has ever been a running away; I’m perfectly happy with the place I am and the places I’ve been, but the desire to go places, to see new things, to drink in the smells and sights and sounds of new vistas no matter how mundane, is as strong in me as the urge to mate.
That sort of instinct is why we conquered the entire planet.
That’s why we’ll conquer the rest of the solar system…eventually.
That’s why we’ll go to the stars.
It’s probably the primary reason I first joined the Navy many years ago. Mom says I got “the itchy feet” from my great uncle Bill. Guess I would have to agree with her.
It is nice to have a place to call home, a base of operations for the heart and soul. But that voice in the back of my head is constantly calling; “Wonder what’s over the next hill, beyond the valley.”
I think I lusted after the crew of Star Trek (TOS), while watching as a child. Not for all the fantastic gizmos, convoluted plots, or even the bevy of extra-terrestrial gals Kirk glommed on to every episode. Rather it was the intro which tripped my trigger … “Space: the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its five-year mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before.”
And Ed has it spot on as well.
You sound like Jules in Pulp Fiction.
I hear you, Og. My wanderlust has been put on the shelf for 7 years. I leave tomorrow for NC, then MO this weekend. I can’t wait.
So that is what I have. And here I thought the need to see what is over that next hill was something else. The wife doesn’t have it and I don’t travel anymore so I have been wondering where the desire to go to Arizona, Texas, New Mexico …You get the drift, came from. Here I thought I wasn’t as happy as I thought.
Thanks for the service, Og.
I’ve lived in a LOT of places around the country (long enough in each place to learn its ‘flavor’). I’ve moved so often in the last 20 years that saving boxes is a habit with me. It’s nice to finally be someplace for a while but if we decide to check out what’s over the next hill, that’s okay too.
Riding for all but the first and most recent decades of my 52 years, I’ve logged +300,000 miles and have ridden in 39 of the “57” states.
Mostly all Gold Wing riding, and some lesser marques along the way. Lost my last one to a kid in San Antonio with the driving record from hell.
At the cost of 5 screws forever in my left ankle, some skin and a broken leg for grins, I did at least total the punk’s car. (A Honda CRX, as I recall.)
I want a new ‘Wing so bad I can taste it.
I hear you on the Wanderlust, Og. All but about 2,000 miles in that logbook was all solo journeys. No “pack” (herds, actually) of bikes for me, thankyouverymuch.
I’ve seen some incredible sights, kept some incredible memories. Ain’t nothin’ like it.
Jim
Sunk New Dawn
Galveston, TX
*sigh*
I so hear you on this.
Hopefully, my sailboat will either cure it or exacerbate it.
Getting too long in the tooth (the back would not last more then a couple hundred miles) for a standard issue “hog”. But have seen some very nice aftermarket trikes … now if I can just win the lotto.