Read this article this morning:
http://www.bbc.com/travel/feature/20150209-travelling-solo-in-the-worlds-most-romantic-country/1
Sometimes travelling alone can be very delicious. I really enjoy road trips by myself, savoring the sound of the road and the hum of my exhaust as I barrel across desert landscapes. The most liberating aspect of travelling alone (for me) is the absolute lack of any real itinerary. One can come and go at one's own desired pace, with only very nebulous arrival times. I can listen to my own music at the volume I choose. I can eat when I want, where I want. Or not. I can stop to stretch my legs when I want. Or not.
When Ammon and I went to Europe, I spent a great deal of time by myself. I walked around in a kind of gape-mouthed wonder at the absolute thrill it was just to be there. The experience was thus intensely personal and spiritual, and all mine. There were times when Ammon decided to hang with me - the American Cemetery high on the cliff overlooking the D-Day beaches was incredibly moving, and I'm glad I got to share that moment with him. He really got it. He did. Even for a young man of 15, he has always been in touch with the spirit of places and times, and there is a reverence about that place that is palpable, even to the most hardened.
But as I sat in St. Malo, in a little square (more of a polygon, really) in front of St. Vincent, trying to figure out how to eat a delicious piece of cake with fresh cream and strawberries without a fork (which I didn't know how to ask for - I ended up eating it with my fingers, which may have looked strange but didn't diminish the taste, or the memory).... Alone, but yet, not alone.... There's something about being someplace like that. Walking along the battlements of that ancient city on the English Channel... Pondering the forts and feeling the warm Brittany sun relax my soul... Yeah. Sometimes alone is good.
And sometimes alone is essential. When we pulled into Chartres and I could see the skyline dominated by the spires of the Chartres Cathedral... I was as giddy as a schoolboy! I walked alone the streets and grounds surrounding the cathedral, drinking deeply of the humanness of it all, feeling the spirit of the time and place. I didn't even have to close my eyes to envision a time when things were different, the medieval environs coming to life on this most grand of skene... Oh, how I loved it! How I felt my soul thrill with just being there! Such exquisite, rapturous joy! And perhaps the best thing was the lack of someone distracting my attention from just being there. Just. Being. There.
I am not antisocial. Far from it. I relish the times spent with others - my children, my family, and even complete strangers. I like crowded masses and the textures and shapes of humanity as we collectively coexist. But there are some experiences that are just attenuated by the ability to enjoy the thing by one's self, listening to the quiet that exists in my own heart and soul.
http://www.bbc.com/travel/feature/20150209-travelling-solo-in-the-worlds-most-romantic-country/1
Sometimes travelling alone can be very delicious. I really enjoy road trips by myself, savoring the sound of the road and the hum of my exhaust as I barrel across desert landscapes. The most liberating aspect of travelling alone (for me) is the absolute lack of any real itinerary. One can come and go at one's own desired pace, with only very nebulous arrival times. I can listen to my own music at the volume I choose. I can eat when I want, where I want. Or not. I can stop to stretch my legs when I want. Or not.
When Ammon and I went to Europe, I spent a great deal of time by myself. I walked around in a kind of gape-mouthed wonder at the absolute thrill it was just to be there. The experience was thus intensely personal and spiritual, and all mine. There were times when Ammon decided to hang with me - the American Cemetery high on the cliff overlooking the D-Day beaches was incredibly moving, and I'm glad I got to share that moment with him. He really got it. He did. Even for a young man of 15, he has always been in touch with the spirit of places and times, and there is a reverence about that place that is palpable, even to the most hardened.
And sometimes alone is essential. When we pulled into Chartres and I could see the skyline dominated by the spires of the Chartres Cathedral... I was as giddy as a schoolboy! I walked alone the streets and grounds surrounding the cathedral, drinking deeply of the humanness of it all, feeling the spirit of the time and place. I didn't even have to close my eyes to envision a time when things were different, the medieval environs coming to life on this most grand of skene... Oh, how I loved it! How I felt my soul thrill with just being there! Such exquisite, rapturous joy! And perhaps the best thing was the lack of someone distracting my attention from just being there. Just. Being. There.
I am not antisocial. Far from it. I relish the times spent with others - my children, my family, and even complete strangers. I like crowded masses and the textures and shapes of humanity as we collectively coexist. But there are some experiences that are just attenuated by the ability to enjoy the thing by one's self, listening to the quiet that exists in my own heart and soul.
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