Allison's Wanderland

 

 

 

 

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

Discovery Bay, Jamaica:  I share the photo of Jamaica because it was this trip that forced me to get my passport, taking me off the single page and thrusting me out into the world.

Having recently shared the exacerbation of my condition – Wanderlust – I feel it appropriate to share the panacea.

While I have not booked a single ticket, I have been in motion. I am a manifesting machine when I actually feel what I want in my body, physically. It’s an excitement, an anticipation, a “Wouldn’t it be so awesome, if…” scenario. Then it usually materializes one way or another. It is this feeling that has put the travel gods in motion.

This is “The Secret” stuff and it works for me. I have learned to let go of the outcome and trust the process. If I give off the travel vibe, I have to be open to where it will lead me and trust that it’s where I’m supposed to go.

With my recent itchiness to travel I found myself trolling travel sites.  After skipping through fields of flowers, walking city streets and sipping coffee in piazzas, I decide on Ireland. It’s green and fresh and my mother is half Irish. Maybe I can get my brother to go.

I went to bed, satisfied that I had done my part to quell my symptoms. I slept well and had very pleasant dreams – of India.

The next day, an email that was forwarded to me with a problem to address contained a few sentences on a completely unrelated subject: “Oh, by the way, I live in a villa on a mountain top in Honduras and we’re in need of volunteers to teach English, yoga, create websites and social media and some manual labor clearing pathways.” Keep in mind this email was not addressed to me and its main topic was not about the need for volunteers. Naturally, I responded to her about volunteering. I outlined my skill set, my desire to teach and write and photograph progress and not so much wield a machete. She responded with an invitation for a month’s stay. As her guest. I think December seems like a good time.

Then the “scared-but-mean-well” friends started dropping concern, like flies in my soup. “They kidnap white people, you know?” “Isn’t it dangerous, there?” “Be careful.” The last one more of song than a statement. My reply to the genuinely worried is always they same, “Have you watched the local news lately? There are problems all over the world. But there is also magic.”

So, with an iota of insecurity now planted in my subconscious, plans begin to unravel, excitement dulls. I don’t know Spanish, I’m obviously not Honduran or even remotely from the south of any border, and I would have to take a 2 hour bus ride from the airport. Alone.  It suddenly seems as if the timing is just not quite right. Maybe next year. Maybe when I assemble a few more volunteers, in particular a rather large Spanish speaking male. THEN, I can go.

But the Universe has a plan to keep me on track. Last night I was chatting with a yoga friend about this opportunity. A male, world-traveling, astrophysicist from VENEZUELA. When I told him my friends were concerned his response was, “Why?” Fresh air. I can breathe again. He suggested I hire a driver to take me from the airport to the villa instead of the bus. Brilliant. And then…he happens to have time open between Thanksgiving and Christmas and he was looking for a little vacation. He’d be happy to go with me.

Working out the details now.

Feeling buoyed by the support of a friend and the whole entire Universe, I sat down with a glass of wine and my computer when I got home.  As I was perusing Facebook, a friend had posted a link to an India trip in February, with a female swami I have worked with personally. And LOVE.  Beginning in the south of India – Chennai, this two week trip goes all the way up to the Rishikesh in the Himalayas, to the Ganges, Taj Mahal, Delhi, many ashrams, temples and spiritual sites.  All places I have not visited in the country I fell in love with in January.  Ok, I’ll go there too.

What about the Ireland trip? My brother and I have made a promise to each other to go next summer. A lot can happen between now and then. I still feel very strongly about going, but in the end, that trip around the virtual globe that landed on Ireland did its job. It turned the page and set me free to wander once again.