Revisiting Special Places.
It occurred to me the other day that I may have developed a habit in the way I travel when out of this country. Could it be possible that without realizing it, my instinct is to re-visit places where I‘ve already been rather than risk possible disappointment by trying out new ones?
It’s quite true that I have visited several places more than once, and I suppose there are some who will regard as a sign of timidity . . . that I go to a place because, on a previous occasion, I have judged it to be safe . . . comfortable . . . non-threatening.
But it’s also true that I’ve been to a number of places where I suppose some people would hesitate to visit—Russia, for instance. Or Mongolia. Or China.
Even Paris. It’s a wonderful city, of course, but it has it’s drawbacks. Language is not a problem. Not for me, anyway, because I speak enough French to be understood. But the truth is, it’s very easy to get lost in Paris. The streets are named, but not numbered, and there’s no logic to how they were originally laid out, some more than 500 years ago.
You can leave your hotel, walk to the corner, turn left and walk for another couple of blocks and suddenly realize you have no idea how to get back to your hotel. In theory, it should be easy. But it isn’t!
In most European cities, would-be taxi drivers have to pass a test before they’re given a license to drive a cab. A London cabbie told me he spent two years at school before earning his taxi license.
On the other hand, if you’re in New York City and have the right address, it’s just about impossible to get lost anywhere on Manhattan.
But some places—that wonderful French hotel in Domme, over-looking the Dordogne River valley, for example—it speaks to me. And I go back . . . through twelve time zones . . . half the world away.
I’ve been there four times and could cheerfully . . . happily . . . contentedly . . . spend three or four days every month as a guest at that hotel.
If you’re lucky enough to find a spot like that on this earth, go there.
And treasure it!
