Travel is

Travel is...

All I seem to be doing these days.

Traveling, ticketing for future travel, trying to find reasonable hotel rooms and, oh yes, writing about various travels for various publications and Internet sites. My work involves turning all those on-and-off airplane and cruise ship experiences into dollars - monetizing I suppose is the word - and while it's fun, it can be hard work.

The work is considerably different today from the way I began freelance writing 25 years ago.

When I began freelancing I had a monster-sized and already-antiquated Radio Shack Model 3 that had been in a back room at my husband's office. It was as big as the desk it sat on in an empty bedroom, and the program I used was also a dinosaur. I printed out copies on an early-model printer, sent them off to magazine and newspaper editors and eventually made some sales. In time I learned to use a modem and that metallic connection sound haunts me even today as the copy transferred over telephone lines. But I learned to use the procedure.

Research meant long hours in the library and shlepping home armsful of books.

Along came the Internet and research was right there in my office with me, I opened an email account and suddenly all the rules I'd learned in college, at the newspaper and in my early years as a freelancer were passe. Reaching out to touch someone eletronically became easier.
It is a technology that my grandchildren take for granted, but one I appreciate and respect.

I go back on the road again this week, dragging my laptop and hoping for wireless access, taking notes and taking pictures. I head to a four-day press trip in Gulf Shores, AL and a week later to a meeting in Mexico.

And when I return, I'll write about it all.

Stay tuned.

travel is...

Travel is

important to me.

Family even more so.

I had a banner weekend, with an overnight on Thursday after my nine-year-old grandson's basketball practice and dinner. The next morning I took an early ride to get him to school by 7:50AM. It was fun - certainly not part of my daily routine.

Then later that same day, my oldest grandson arrived for the weekend and what a lovely time we had! I am an only child and visits from or to my sons and daughters-in-law and their children are always good, always pleasant and always memorable. Maybe that's because they are also always short.

Whatever the reason it was a great weekend. The concept of sitting over a bottle of wine with my grandson, (it's okay, he's 24,) and having real conversations was remarkable and a concept I shall cherish.

This weekend I'll be off to Orlando to spend time with the Orlando family. It should also be a good one.

I'll combine a car trip (with a friend of some 40 years) with a visit to my kids. What could be better?

Travel is

Travel is...

Sometimes confusing, to say nothing of tiring. And the planning can be as exhausting as the travel.

September is barely a week old and I'm filling my dance card for the next couple of months. It's a good thing I enjoy traveling, because between now and the end of the year I'll likely be in Orlando with my kids three times; in New York City for a trade show; in Gulf Shores, AL, on a press trip, aboard the inaugural of Royal Caribbean's exciting new Oasis of the Seas and on the Costa Atlantica for assignments.

And then, if I can work out the details, I may join a press trip to Israel.

By then we will be into 2010.

As I've said before, you can't hit a moving target. When I factor in the time to write these assignments, line up new jobs and handle the whole calendar of holidays with my family, I know I won't have time to be bored.

And that - at this point in my life - is what it's all about.

Travel is...

Travel is . . .



wanting to stay in your home or cocoon while simultaneously wanting to get on a cruise ship, airplane, train or just jump into a car and drive, (yep, I omitted buses, by choice.) Travel is an addiction - but a socially acceptable one - and whether it's fey little restaurant in New York City, a pottery gallery in North Carolina, or a deli in a Las Vegas hotel, there's always a story to be found.



"Home" is comfortable and contains all the that make up a daily existence including my clothes, photos, books and nearby friends.



In my current home, my husband and I created a comfortable master bedroom. We each had our own bathroom and shared a dressing room. In recent years, when I concentrated on cruise writing almost exclusively, we'd almost always unpack in a ship's cabin and, of course, shared a bathroom. I'd ask, ironically, "why am I doing this?"



The answer is because I love it. I love the experience of sailing into a new port - or revisiting one I've been to 25 times - I love walking the main street, watching locals and tourists interact, buy and sell and learn something about one another. I enjoy soaking up local culture, history and politics and am happy to climb back aboard ship at day's end.



The only tough thing is that these days I climb back aboard alone. It hasn't stopped me. I still travel, armed with my trusty Kindle Bookreader and wonderful memories of all the trips I've enjoyed over many years.