Prone to Wander

This is something I've been suffering from for a while now:

wan·der·lust (wŏnˈdər-lŭstˌ); noun - A very strong or irresistible impulse to travel.

 

Mountain biking in San Francisco, California

  I've always liked to see new places, but I've never enjoyed the planning that trips require nor the time in transit between where I am and where I want to be.  But lately, the monotony of office life has shown me that planning an adventure is almost as fun as experiencing it. And the time spent in airports, buses, and taxis, can be viewed as a necessary evil, or, can be enjoyed as a part of the experience. I've been lucky to go the places I've been, but it seems the more I travel, the less I'm satisfied with staying at home.

The first day back to work following a trip is almost depressing, and worse still if there are no new adventures on your horizon in the foreseeable future. Of course, our Facebook and Picasa photo albums help us relive the good times and survive our days at home. I'm sure we're all guilty of obsessively "lusting" over friends' travel photos during the dry spells; I know they're fuel for my fire.

But even though I love to travel, I'm also a family girl who loves the comforts of home.  When I'm gone too long I start to miss my family, my friends, my cat, my cactus.. Traveling has taught me not only to appreciate the many cultures of our world, but to treasure my time spent at home.
 

Rock climbing in Red River Gorge, Kentucky

 
Here are a few quotes that inspire the wanderlust in me:

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” – Mark Twain

“The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.” – St. Augustine

“No one realizes how beautiful it is to travel until he comes home and rests his head on his old, familiar pillow.” – Lin Yutang

“Travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living.” – Miriam Beard

“Not all those who wander are lost.” – J. R. R. Tolkien