over my past 21 years i have realized that there are three things which fill me with happiness & excitement. getting off a plane in a new place, starting a new book & coming home after being gone for a while.
i love traveling & when I'm going somewhere new my favorite part of the trip is getting off the plane; especially if you get dropped off right on the tarmac. they say smell triggers memories & it's definitely true for me. certain smells to this day remind me of the Dominican republic, for instance the other day i picked up a candle at a store. it was a musty scent, it actually almost smelt spicy like b.o. but with a hint of the ocean, it was such a strange mix i was surprised it was actually a candle. it also reminded me of home, because when i get out of the car, if the wind's just right, I'll get a whiff of the Atlantic.
another thing that I've come to love is starting books. it's nice to escape into someone else's life for a while. when you first open a book you don't really know what to expect. it's all a surprise. anything can happen. maybe that's why I'm always reading two books at once.
and finally, the third thing that i love is coming home after I've been gone for a while. i love traveling and going to new places, & I've never had the feeling of wanting to leave a place. i actually thought of ways to wonder off & 'get lost' in Heathrow when i was younger. but when i finally do make it home, it's always so amazing to be there. there's something comforting about being able to drive in any direction & know where you are. mind you i love getting lost in foreign places, i find it fun & i always end up having an interesting story to tell. being home means being more independant. i know where everything is, i know how & where to get what i need. it's also being around people who know me best. i've never been homesick, but that doesn't mean that i don't love it all the same.
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Katy - I can so relate! I love to travel too and getting off the plane is always the most exhilerating part of a trip. I used to travel for my job and I was always going to strange new cities and renting a car, and invariably getting lost on my way to the hotel. [Few people really know how to give good directions.] But I never freaked. It was always a lot of fun to explore.
ReplyDeleteAnd starting a new book - I'm not one who goes to the last page and reads the last paragraph. I love surprises and reading the story to the end is the way I enter into it. I savor it - especially something written well. And finally when reaching the end of it, I'm satisfied.
Coming home is good after being gone. In that job I used to have, I'd be gone a week at a time. My husband would always be there to pick me up at the airport gate (pre-9/11) and when we'd pull into the driveway, I could feel myself relaxing...home is good! ah :)
Nerd addition: Smells DO trigger memories--there is a plethora of research to support it. If my own memory serves, I believe that olfactory stimuli trigger the amygdala, which plays an important role in emotional memories. Thus, if you catch a whiff of, for example, the cologne an old boyfriend used to wear, you will probably have a more substantial emotional response than you would if you just see a picture or hear his name.
ReplyDeleteWhat? A nerd? Me? Nooooo...