October 11, 2012
I Want My Teleportation Machine
I write this blog in the exhausted stupor of one who has traveled for 15 hours and had very little sleep. The past five days have been my college’s Fall Break, and I made the long trek out to Arizona to visit my boyfriend. The trip itself was wonderful, but the traveling? A complete hassle.
On the road to Sedona, AZ.
Don’t get me wrong, I love to travel, especially flying. In most circumstances, it is extremely relaxing to not have to worry about travel – you just have to show up at the gate and the rest is taken care of. They get you to the right location, and you don’t have to navigate unknown territory until you arrive at your destination.
That is, of course, if you don’t get stuck at the airport because your connecting flights don’t line up. If your plane does not arrive five minutes before the next one takes off, and it takes you 10-15 minutes – running to get there – just to find the gate your flight has already left from. If you don’t have to make a mad dash halfway across the airport to try and make it on time, only to find that you’re stuck for an undetermined amount of time in a place that is most definitely not your destination. (Me? Bitter? No, not me! Couldn’t be.)
This is a rare occurrence, however, and on the whole travelling is extremely enjoyable. Visiting new places, a change of scenery from the same old thing. Exploring a place you’ve never before seen is fascinating, because there are always odd quirks or ways of life that you would not experience in your own hometown or college campus.
Travelling makes one appreciate the beauty and eccentricities of the world around us, and reminds us that there is more to life than our own tiny corners of it. Travelling is a learning experience and an adventure, one that everyone should participate in as much as possible in their lives. As Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “Life is a journey, not a destination.”
All that said, however, I do wish they would invent the teleportation machine already. It’s about time.
What is your favorite way to travel? Best trip you’ve had? Share your stories in the comments!
