Idle Feet

The Road goes ever on and on
Out from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
Let others follow it who can!
Let them a journey new begin
-Tolkien

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Audio: Idle Feet

The gift of travel is a wonderful thing. It expands the mind, liberates the heart, and refreshes the spirit. The opportunity to take in unimaginable beauty is an amazing gift. There are moments in our lives where we pause…Where we catch ourselves, breathless, in shock, reflecting that the experience, the moment in time we’re immersed in is something too good to be true…Something movie-like….Straight from fairytales and the depths of our creative imaginations.

Travel is that wonderful enabler…it’s the pixie dust of myth that enables the heart and mind to fly. It’s a blessing that far too few enjoy. It’s been 4 months since I returned from my European walkabout and I can already feel a yearning for the open road tugging at my heartstrings. I was watching several of the new videos posted on the TED (Technology. Entertainment. Design.) which is sponsored by BMW and after one of the videos an ad started running which caught my attention. You can view the ad here:

It’s for BMWs new hydrogen-powered car. In addition to being a beautiful ad, it has some amazing footage of waterfalls, fjords, and gorgeous natural spaces. Despite the fact that it’s an advertisement and I had no real incentive to watch it, I found myself glued to it…Sucked into the panoramic shots and the sheer beauty of the locale. It tapped into the roaring hunger for travel and new experiences raging just under my skin and held in place only by the knowledge that I have to be at work tomorrow at 9:00 and that cash doesn’t grow on trees.

The knowledge that there’s an amazing world out there, that’s nearly endless, with transformational adventures and opportunities but that I…like so many others…am shackled down by funds and responsibility…is frustrating. It is a frustration so tangible that I can almost feel it. It is something so powerful that it’s more a sensation than a feeling.

If everything goes according to plan and I’m able to make my work situation viable, I’m currently planning on spending a week or two in Japan with Lander sometime this fall. I’m praying the dollar has recovered a bit by then though I imagine that’s probably just silliness. I can’t wait to experience a new culture and for the opportunity to explore new places. The feeling of freedom that goes with being on the road and in amazing places is something else. The sense of independence…ahh, I don’t know how I’ll manage to wait.

I think a trip to the Rockies may be in order, sometime this summer. A small taste to keep me alive until I’m able to spread my wings again and fly.