Such a daunting task
Choosing a destination vacation is a challenging task for a seventy-year-old man. I’ve done the beachy hotspots. I’ve been to mountains and deserts. I dove off Key West and San Diego.
Now I am searching for that unique vacation. Listed below are some that I am considering.
- A trip to the banks of Gitche Gumee of the Shining-Big-Sea-Water. Seriously. Who wouldn’t want to experience the… ‘old woman, pointing with her finger westward, O’er the water pointing westward, to the purple clouds of sunset, fiercely the red sun descending.’ ~ The Song of Hiawatha by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
- A trip to Vienna to waltz with my love in my arms (when I’m not tripping over my own two feet). Where we can find… ‘There is a fragment of tomorrow in the museum of winter frost. There is a thousand-windowed dance hall.’ ~ Little Viennese Waltz by Federico Garcia Lorca
- Perhaps a trip to recall a past life in Camelot. ‘Willows whiten, aspens shiver. The sunbeam showers break and quiver. In the stream that runneth ever. By the island in the river. Flowing down to Camelot.’ ~ The Lady of Shalott (1832) by Alfred, Lord Tennyson
- Then I thought why not go where no one has gone before? ‘Two roads diverged in a wood, and I — I took the one less traveled by. And that has made all the difference.’ ~ The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost
- I could visit the home of my boyhood hero. ‘Robin Hood is here again: all his merry thieves. Hear a ghostly bugle-note shivering through the leaves, Calling as he used to call, faint and far away, In Sherwood, in Sherwood, about the break of day.’ ~ Sherwood by Alfred Noyes
Now as intriguing as all these might sound, they would all require great effort on my part. I would have to leave my recliner. I do this for only special occasions. For the pizza delivery guy and the Amazon Flex driver. It still irks me I have to walk 20 ft. to my mailbox six days a week. And let’s not even talk about trips to the bathroom. So exhausting.
And then I must consider the hassle of flying. Getting to the airport and waiting in endless lines for TSA employees to discover that yes, I do have toothpaste in my bag that could be used as a deadly weapon. I even had one try to extract a gold filling with her tongue. However, I didn’t mind too terribly. She was cute. Just another underpaid government employee.
Then there’s the nerve of some countries to insist on driving on the wrong side of the road. Really? Did they accidentally install steering wheels on the right side of their automobiles by mistake and thought, let’s just drive on the wrong side of the road. Thanks to Napolean, most of Europe adopted his decree to use the right side of the road.
Writing this piece has been quite exhausting. My hands are cramping up and my recliner is crying out CHOOSE ME! CHOOSE ME! Furniture has feelings too. Besides, the pizza guy just arrived. I’m open to other vacation ideas so leave me your recommendations.
©2023 Joe Merkle All rights reserved.
Originally published at https://medium.com/bouncin-and-behavin-blogs/pondering-my-next-vacation-53a03e57403c