| I grew up in a subburb of Duesseldorf in Germany. When I was little I used to travel with my finger round the globe, making up itineries, making up addresses in far away cities where I was planning to live. When I was fourteen I went on a schooltrip to London, where I fell in love with the city. I remember sitting on a number 14 bus, upstairs at the back and going round Trafalgar Square I thought to myself: " One day I will live here".
Soon after I left home and moved to Hamburg, a seaport where the 'Fernweh' grew even worse. Seeing the ships fromn all over the world in the harbour made me realise how much of a world was out there to explore. The I fell in love, with an american girl from new Orleans. My desire to leave, to travel, to run away from my mundane (so I thought at the time) background and this relationship came together perfectly. When Eve went back to the States, I was on the plane with her. After 1 1/2 years in New Orleans (I loved that place) our relationship ended and my feet were getting itchy again. In the end I came to Canada, lived in Toronto for a while, found new friends, adapted to a new place, a new climate, new job.
But I was getting homesick, homesick for Europe, for our small countries and many languages, homesick for the old cities and outdated customs. The cheapest flight I could get from Toronto to Europe was to London where I was planning to stay for three weeks, visiting friends. that was 12 years ago. The longer I stay in London the more I love it, and whenever i feel like packing up again all I do is go down to the river and walk across Blackfriars Bridge from where London is spread like a carpet with Big Ben on the left, St Pauls straight ahead and Tower Bridge to my left. And I'm home.
Andreas {aduess@talk21.com} | |
| I was an exchange student to France when I was sixteen. Before my exchange I was an insular boy from the bush, racist and inconsiderate. After tasting the spices of the world I discovered I was just a small cog in the wheel of life, I learned to appreciate difference.
Travel until you discover this.
Simon Rumble {simon@rumble.net} |
| longest distance traveled: approx. 10,000 miles
i must admit that i've traveled quite extensively around the world; singapore, malaysia, thailand, indonesia, burma, australia, new zealand, hong kong, the united states, the united kingdom, france and canada. but there's no place like good ole england, especially the country side where the grass is green, the air is fresh and the people are most friendly. it's been ten long years since i last visited that land, but the memories i have of that place still run deep.
i remember strolling through vast green pastures, horseback riding and partaking of the most excellent home-cooked food in the rustic pubs littered around.
just stay away from downtown london. it's a mess there.
luther {luther@grantstreetjournal.com} | |
| After my blind wanderings through degree programs lead to shamefully dropping out of college, and after an unfortunate “termination” from the only employment I’d been able to find – I went through five jobs in a month, each one a great “opportunity”, but none that I could live with.
A quick phone call to my Dad – his offer of “If you want to go back to school – I’ve got a place for you to live while you do it” was sounding mighty good.
“I’m gonna take you up on your offer”
“Great”
“How’s Wednesday?”
A new town – much smaller than the metropolis that I was just getting to the age to enjoy. Much more provincial – everyone in my classes seemed to be in the thirteenth grade – still in a high-school mentality. But I adapted.
And now it’s seven years later – I’ve explored artistic venues I never thought I’d end up in, moved forward, gotten married, bought a house, settled down in a life I never thought would be me… but the place feels cozy now – in a way that the big city never did.
How far have I flown? 150 miles as the crow flies – but such a huge distance from where I started – it feels like millions of miles.
I’ll send you a postcard.
Ian Murphy {imurphy@groupz.net} |
| While traveling I learned that I am a resident of _me_. Where ever I go, it only takes a while before i find myself in the same roles in a group, dreaming the same dreams, fearing the same fears.
Flying away only lasts as long as it takes me to find new structures.
Still, april 3rd I am flying from here (Amsterdam) to Malaysia for 2 1/2 weeks of Asia ;-)
Stefan {stefan@dagelijks.com} | |
| I've been all around the world, spend days in trains and airplanes, but the trip that brought me mentally most far away, took me 30 minutes on a train from Homburg (Germany) to Saarbruecken (Germany).
In those 30 minutes I realized that I don't travel from Point A to Point B, but always will carry Point A in me.
The end is the beginning is the end is the beginning is the end is the beginning ...
bazille {bazille@bazille.com} |
| I'm 17; I haven't been anywhere. The last trip I went on was to Winnipeg (yawn) in 1989. I'm graduating high school in a couple of months, and I dream of doing the sort of thing that you did: heading to Europe, or Asia, and just wandering around. No guided tours, no day-by-day schedule. I'm sick of high school and parents. I just want to escape.
Sorry if I didn't answer the question, but I really enjoyed the story and hope that I will have one like that some day.
Graham {g.cook@bigfoot.com} | |
| of course i left my hometown when college called. moved from evanston, illinois to la-la land. los angeles. los angeles without a car. ugh. but my high school crush had gone to school in southern cali and i wanted to be near him. within one month of me arriving at school, he had dropped out and gone to live with his parents in sacramento. stuck in la without a car and without friends. it wasn't too long before i pulled my next geographic.
the next move was to berkeley and to a wonderfully awful relationship with a drunk. i loved him, but couldn't face his problems and didn't want to try and force him to get better. i dropped out of school. i felt like i was wasting my time and my money. worked for a while and tried to forget my lovers other passion. but i'm not good at lying to myself. at least not for very long. so i left. moved back to the only place i had ever felt free to be myself - chicago.
i was happy to be back, but it still wasn't right. i felt very lost. i worked at a print shop with folks who had never lived anywhere else. in comparison, i guess my life could have seemed pretty exciting. but i was not happy. i remember that time as a very grey time. dull and dreary. i wanted more than that. i wanted color. so i left for the steamy south.
now i'm here in atlanta. 7 years. hated it when i first arrived here. still have a strong dislike for it. but there's the security of a great job, good friends, and a house i own (i hadn't even lived in a house since i was 5 and i lucked into one when i moved here!).
lately i've heard chicago calling me back again. lake michigan. the miracle mile. grant park. the millions of neighborhoods to explore. safety and security. where i can get lost and be known by no one.
or maybe i'll go to san francisco again. live the "california lifestyle". risk the wrath of earthquakes.
or perhaps i'll find somewhere new to go to.
lulu {lulu@mindspring.com} |
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