Destination for the sake of it

Why is it that we dream of certain destinations? Is it mainly instinctual or, is there much more to it?  If you live a distance away from your family or long-time friends, then travel destination priorities may well involve bringing you closer to these people.  If you sense some connection to a place you've never been, you may feel driven to get yourself to these places.  The following were eleven reasons people gave me as motivations for choosing a specific travel destination:

1) Leisure/ vacation: lured by the exotic

2) Family live in the area

3) Wedding/ Reunion/ Funeral location

4) Work conference/ meeting setting

5) "Always wanted to go there"

6) Spiritual reasons (i.e., desire to witness miracles or to make a pilgrimage)

7) Random choice

8) "Someone recommended it"

9) "Why not?"

10) Seat sale

11) Heritage (i.e., gathering material for a family tree; visiting relatives' graves, retracing immigration path or finding/ reuniting with blood relatives)

Post highschool wanderer

I met a guy who was finishing highschool and opting not to attend university, at least not right away.  Instead, much to his parents' surprise, he signed up and paid for short-term language courses in Beijing, China and Paris, France. He bought a ticket to realize an overseas dream. He had learned basic Chinese and French during highschool, but he was impatient to apply himself and survive in the 'real world'.

In the back of his mind, he dreamed of adventure and nurturing transferable skills. They would surely assist whatever experiences would unfold in his future. He reminisced about his boyscout days and having been taught varied ways to "be prepared." He figured he still had much to learn and decided to move ahead.

As it happened, the evolution of a relationship with his girlfriend nearly caused him to change his travel plans. She didn't plan to accompany him. He was unsure if he should just up and go. Yet, after reflection, he decided the best thing for him at that point in his life was to test the relationship with distance and the passage of time. He was focused on his personal quest. His instincts re-oriented his life compass.

When friends heard about his plans, many tried to talk him out of it. Questions were thrown at him from many directions; How will you survive? Where will you get a job? Who will help you if you get into trouble? What will you do when your money runs out? Skeptics and pessimists nearly caused him to back out. Yet, somewhere, deep inside himiself, he felt the pull of his will to step outside of what he thought he knew in order to figure out who he really was. He felt he had to do that outside a classroom.

Although some people described him as a wanderer, he felt he was on a focused quest of increased self-understanding. He packed his copy of The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho and readied himself for the next chapter of his life journey.

The Wishing Chair for real!

You may have heard of some unique dreams in your time.  Enid Blyton is the British author who wrote a child's fantasy The Wishing Chair. In case you missed it, this tale is about a flying rocker that was wished to destinations.  But, did you ever know anyone who aspired to travel high into the sky on a regular lawn chair? The weekend of July 7th, this is what really happened.  And no, this really isn't a whopper...

Ken Couch decided to fly this way from Oregon to Idaho.  I'm unsure if he was a boyscout, but he didn't float up unprepared.  He took instruments to measure his altitude and speed, a global positioning system (GPS) device in his pocket, and four plastic bags holding five gallons of water each to act as ballast (he could turn a spigot, release water and rise).  He also took a parachute.  Never can be too careful?   Almost nine hours later, the 47-year-old gas station owner came back to earth in a farmer's field near Union, short of Idaho but over 193 miles from his home.

Couch was inspired by Larry Walters, who, in 1982 rose three miles above Los Angeles in a lawn chair lifted by balloons, just to prove he could. Walters surprised an airline pilot, who radioed the control tower that he had just passed a guy in a lawn chair. Walters had to pay a $1,500 fine for violating air traffic rules.  Would you say this leisure activity is for those as crazy as the birds?

As it happened, this was Couch's second flight.  Back in September 2006, he had a trial run where he floated off the ground for six hours.  Modeling Walters, Couch used a B-B gun to pop the balloons, but he went into a rapid descent and eventually parachuted to safety.  Apparently, that experience wasn't enough for the thrill-seeker that dreamt about a far more challenging dream. 

He clocked a time of ~25 miles an hour.  Below him, a three-car caravan filled with friends, family and the dog followed him and watched his peaceful journey in awe.  He said later he could hear them from his serene vantage point.  He made a wish to reach safety and, it worked!

When he decided to land, he popped enough balloons to set the craft down.  He only suffered minor rope burns. Yet, after he jumped out, the wind unexpectedly grabbed his chair, along with his cam recorder, and the remaining balloons and swept them away. He's hoping to get them back.  If by chance you know anyone who saw a mysterious lawn chair floating along videotaping  backyard, or you have any information that could lead to its wherabouts, do let Ken know.  Although people in planes and control towers filmed some of his record-breaking flight, he likely captured the most incredible footage himself! If only he could find it?

His wife hasn't decided if she'll accompany him next time. And yes, he's already suggesting there will be a next time, destination to-be-determined.  It may depend if he can rig a floating love seat? Now, if you had the choice, would this adventure interest you, to be swept away on a lazy afternoon?

Seafaring survival skills

How many people would imagine the idea of a mobile high school on a vessel that sails around the world, to teach people practical savoir-vivre, let-a-lone find an ad? Although I didn't join that particular crew, I have consciously had many other buoyant travel experiences.

I suppose I've always believed in possibilities. In the end, it’s not what you think that matters, but how you react to your thoughts and to what happens. You learn a lot from whale watching in the Atlantic, like discovering how to sit still for six hours watching and waiting and helping a friend contemplate losing lunch over the side.  Also, while sailing in a yacht race in fog off Nova Scotia, I learned to be vigilent and avoid many possible collisions, while floating along in almost no wind. 

My first sailing lessons as a teen involved shock treatment.  I was initiated and then caught off-guard on lake in Colorado during a freak lightning storm.  Later in life, while deep sea fishing off southern Florida, I held on tightly to the power boat and learned what it meant to return empty-handed. After ocean sailing off the coast of Chile as a guest on a turbulent day, I felt I was still in motion as I kissed the ground.  While Balinese outrigging in a Jukung off Indonesia in the Indian Ocean, I was reminded how to jive in a refreshing breeze. I like to recognize how seafaring interests actually seem to draw certain kinds of people to us.

One friend I invited into my life later told me she grew up the daughter of a Dutch sea captain. Her family traveled regularly by ship from Europe to Asia. You might say she discovered Marco Polo's spice run from different vantage points. Her childhood at sea continues to shape her life choices, to remind her the value of difference, tolerance and understanding. I don't question why I met her. We have a lot in common. Maybe that's why we were drawn together and keep in touch.

I have another friend who used to work in a shipyard and got friendly with many international ship captains. He shared stories with me about the names of ships and captains and some of their regular cargo runs. This friend told me if I ever needed a lift, I could look up certain people in certain ports. This friendliness caused me to think of a couple I know who decided to take a vacation by crossing the Pacific to Asia on an oil tanker.  If they'd been journalists rather than physicians, the public may have gained quirky insight into ship hitchhiking.  They even slept on deck!

You might say I'm fond of ships. One of my friends was sailing a Caribbean charter until his boat was engulfed by a tropical storm. He was rescued by a passing cargo ship and experienced adventure all the way to the it's destination of Amsterdam before flying home to North America to tell his tale.

Expand your scope

Adventure travel isn't everyone's dream.  All travel can actually be seen as meaningful adventures, if you chose to perceive a change of scenery that way.  Experience extreme altitudes, and deep sea diving expeditions into underwater caverns.  You can find the most challenging and unsual climates and cultures to stretch your sense of reality.  You can travel within or step far outside yourself. 

Some people travel based on their instincts, based on a recommended destination or, a sense of having visited a particular place before.  Some people travel based on a sense of necessity, to study,  find work, meet up with relatives, to live a dream, to pursue love or, to follow clues that bring one closer to a kind of destiny.  You may consider travel for any, all or no specific reasons.

As for me, I'm repeatedly asked about lasting impressions among the many continents and countries I have visited.  What compels me to migrate, to explore or seek new ways of learning?  I suppose that its in my blood like my Viking ancestors.  Yet, this instinct has been nurtured by my life choices.  I'm drawn to people.  I naturally go out of my way to forge human relationships. 

Developing friendships led me to write letters and share stories.  It wasn't enough to simply communicate at a distance.  I desired to experience places I had read and heard about.  I was motivated to create opportunities to discover them.  You don't dwell on why you think you can't. Rather, you just figure out how you will.