My Traveling Dilemma

“As you grow older, you become faced with the problem of what to do with your time.” (Sunday Adelaja)

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone:

I immensely enjoy traveling over six months each year. Yet why does the option of staying home sound increasingly more enticing? Why not buy a dog/cat and enjoy my simpler lifestyle as a pensioned retiree in South Florida? Turning more introspective at times in the face of the latest health, financial, or family challenge, my enthusiasm for taking grandiose *trips/ vacations now seems at times to be shrinking. At the moments of lifestyle doubt, some realistic questions thus emerge. Does a nostalgic glance at a past photo album now suffice as a suitable replacement for a journey to Paris? Can reading more travel blogs on Word Press satisfy my wanderlust urges to visit exotic places? What entertainment opportunities am I missing at home by being away so often? Why do I seem more intolerant these days to extreme cold or hot weather?

A past weekend jaunt to Cleveland, Ohio provides a suitable case in point. While I did witness a convincing Cleveland Browns win at First Energy Stadium amidst bitter cold and blustery windy conditions, I could have more healthily enjoyed the Browns win at a local sports bar in Fort Lauderdale. As I likewise paid my dutiful respects to legendary bands inductees at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on Saturday, strong lingering thoughts persist now of missing talented writers speak at this year’s Miami Book Fair. Or in frolicking outside like a kid amidst fallen autumn leaves and festive holiday displays, I might have equally conveyed the changing of seasons spirit in warmer conditions by putting up our living room Christmas tree. As I sit in bed now sniffing with a nagging cold, I thus wonder how the following nostalgic highlights from frigid Cleveland might represent some subtle hints that I will soon experience travel-less, lifestyle times.

While I braved the unaccustomed to cold weather outside, Ruth more sensibly spent time with cousin Jo warmly indoors.

Why does raking up dead leaf piles up north in winter seem so depressing? Wouldn’t I rather relaxingly lounge on my patio at home overlooking our green, tropical paradise?

Why do I see these eerie looking dolls staring at me so menacingly? Are they trying to tell me something?

I embraced the rebellious spirit of student activism as expressed in these concert posters during my “heyday” of “rock and roll” times. To what extent does this restless energy still motivate me these days to travel?

As I ponder the inner meaning of this blog’s wander-less theme, was I experiencing a travel less omen by these flightless seagulls along the Lake Erie shoreline?

Why do I need to travel to Cleveland to buy overpriced Cleveland Browns merchandise at the stadium? I can buy them more inexpensively at home online?

Given my cold weather intolerance, I could have at least been sitting on the sunny side of the field during the game.

I consider myself a “Diehard” Cleveland Browns fan on game day wherever I’m at. So what difference would it make for me to endure the Sunday irritations of this kind of chaotic mob scene to watch the game live?

If so many dedicated Browns fans can gather at Browns Stadium to feel the energy of hometown game fever, then why can’t I similarly be contented at my South Florida home?

Spotting this beautiful Christmas tree downtown with children underneath, I sensed that the “Yuletide” message of giving to others can be best experienced with a warm gathering of family/friends at home.

*In past blog entries, I’ve elaborated about why I experience  vacations and trips differently. While vacations typically allow me to settle into more spontaneous enjoyment of a place over a longer period of time, trips normally relate to short term “getaways” of tightly structured, itinerary nature.