Travel and the Reclusive

I haven't traveled much in the last fifteen years. In my lifetime, I HAVE traveled to Mt. Rushmore,SD, Branson,MO, and Dollywood, TN. Before that I spent a weekend in Toronto, CAN, and made several trips to Chicago,IL, and Madison, WI. Now I am packing for a trip to the United Kingdom to visit London, Stratford-upon-Avon, the Lake District, Endinburgh, and Yorkshire. I am a person who has a hard time making it to family reunions in the same state in which I live. I believe travel is wonderful. People should do more of it and not just to relatives. Facing relatives at the end of your journey may not be enough incentive to pack up the family and the dog and the diabetic supplies and get off your personal duff. When I was a child, the only traveling done was to relatives' homes. Now people respond to advertising, to see world-famous theme resorts and Native Americans in their native habitats. Advertising drawa people out of their Laz-Z-Boys and onto the highways or flyways to witness NY Broadway shows, Las Vegas neon lights and sandy beaches newly-swept for medical refuse. Disappointment is built into every trip. Hotels too far from the beach, shows that don't entertain, unmanagable heat or cold, money draining away like storm water down a street drain, all contribute to the experience. I am very excited about my trip (forty-five years of English Lit preparing me) but I know I will get tired, frustrated, bewildered, and broke. Still I wouldn't miss it for the World. I have to have something to talk about to the other residents of the (future) nursing home.