TRAVEL BUG BITES BACK? SCRATCH THAT ITCH

Once upon a time the bite from a travel bug meant one thing: pack that bag.

We all know people bitten by the travel bug. From pictures, to videos, to restaurant receipts, they can’t stop re-telling the same story over and over.

We know them because that’s just who we are. See something that draws you in? Go explore.

But, not anymore, at least for a while. Until then, how does a travel bug survive?

We could read a book, or see a movie, or add a new twist on the same old story that we think never grows tiring.

After the book and the movie, ask someone who knows your story if it wears them out.

This is why we need the twist. But first, what the heck is a travel bug?

Deadhead Travel

People that used to follow the Grateful Dead on tour weren’t called groupies. Instead, they had their own name: Deadheads.

Some of them sold concert stuff around the show venue before dropping purple micro-dot acid and taking their spot with the other spinners in front of the stage.

A facebook friend said they liked to follow The Stones on tour, going to as many shows as they could, planning the year out ahead of time.

My thought: I’d choose another band, and I like The Stones. A lot. But not enough to pick up and go.

“We enjoy the whole experience,” they said. “We like traveling with purpose.”

“So do I,” I said. “I like to travel to the corner store for beer.”

“Uh huh.”

I’ve never seen a Stones show live, but they look good on TV. I did see Mick and Company in Cuba where he spoke Spanish to the crowd. Spanish? Who knew?

Big City, Bright Lights, Travel Bug

No matter where you live, there’s always a bigger town, a bigger city, unless you live in New York City.

Then you’re in the middle of it all, which means coronavirus today, covid-19 tomorrow. And you’d be in quarantine.

Quarantine travel is no one’s idea of a good time.

During my last time out in the world my wife booked a room in a fancy place on a fancy street in South Kensington. The boutique hotel was nice, but the room itself was a converted hallway under a stairwell.

It would have been a tight place for one person to quarantine with the ‘crawl over’ bed placement jammed against walls on three sides.

Next time we hit the road, NYC was the plan.

It was a good plan made with friends who knew the city from having grown up there.

From a shared timeshare, to Airbnb, to Broadway, museums, and just walking around, we’re looking forward to another time.

After the shutdown quarantine, the world may look like a puzzle with a couple of pieces missing. Then it’s up to the rest of us to put our own worlds back together.

So, instead of being in the city that never sleeps, we put this together:

It’s an older puzzle from another era.

Things are changing all the time.

The hard job is making change work for the best results.

Scratch the itch of the travel bug.