So you think you're a traveler

So, you think you're a traveler...

    I love to travel !  I just got back from Paris, and it was wonderful, but the flight was dreadful.

The traveling part of this story is always brief, and unfortunately, very negative. It's as if their goal,

was to check off a list of spots, on the desk top globe they have at home. Visiting Paris is, I am sure,

quite wonderful, and I hope to visit there some day myself, but what I don't seem to hear, is how

traveling was fun for them.  Please bear with me here. What I am getting at is, that traveling is  the

journey to and from these destinations. To say that you love to travel has become the norm, but

not quite accurate. “The flight was dreadful”, would suggest that you didn't care for the traveling part at

all. And more common would be, “ The drive took for ever, and the kids acted up the whole way.”

Does any of this sound familiar?

    Well, I am here to help. I would like to reach out to these poor souls, that have been deceived. That

have been led to believe, that traveling is about being able to “say” that you have been to Paris. You

know these people, these not very quiet few, that always seem to be in the seat behind you. They creep

into your serenity, as you are quietly enjoying the scenery from your window seat.  These misguided 

creatures, who for some reason or another cannot sit still and relax. Oh, how I wish they could.

    It's not their fault though, they aren't trained to do this properly. They don't understand, that the real

joy comes from acknowledging your surroundings, and trying to absorb as many mental images as you

can. To notice those things that you have never seen before, and may never have a chance to see again.

And to have missed it, for the need to adjust that seat for the fifth time. They might even have learned

something from that nice person in the seat next to them, if they had just been able to keep there elbow

from impaling him, every fifteen minutes.

    I have come up with a way to help these people, and I think it could be beneficial to all my fellow

travelers. A way for them to finally see the world, without actually having to suffer through the journey

from one place to another. A way that they could see every hot spot on the globe, and yet never have to

wait in lines for tickets or boarding passes. You may be sensing where I am headed here, but for those

who aren't, I am talking about, the Internet

    I think we can agree, that these people should seriously consider staying home. I mean why not, they

can download photos of exotic places, and tell their friends that they just got back. Yes, I think they

should lie. They should tell everyone they know, that they saw the world. And, that the flight was

wonderful. And in a way, they'll be telling the truth, the flight was wonderful. 

Because they weren't on it.