(Originally published Jan. 23, 2010)
I continued working on this year’s new writing project this week. While I haven’t actually written much about this project, I assure you, dear reader (if you exist), that I am hard at work setting the stage. I also have not yet done any of the traveling I will need to do for this project, but I have begun planning.
I love the planning phase of travel. It fascinates me to search for the best and cheapest flights, buses and routes to and from where I’m going. And I could stare at a map for hours on end without getting bored, just studying the different cities, their distances from each other, and the various geographic features in and around them. Geography was always one of my favorite subjects in school.
A few days ago, I woke up thinking about Manaus, Brazil, because of a story I read in Tim Cahill’s book, “Road Fever.” I hopped out of bed and stood looking at my map of South America on my bedroom wall. I studied it for six minutes before I snapped out of my little cocoon of thought and realized I needed to take a shower and get to work. I could have pored over that map for much longer if I’d had the time.
The planning phase allows me to dream. It allows my mind to wander and wonder at what might be on the road ahead. It gets me excited about what I might see and experience. The actual travel experiences almost always turn out differently than what I’d imagined, but that’s fine. I get to dream in the beginning and I’m free to roll with whatever the road tosses my way later on.
I’m looking forward to every part of that process.
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