Company Affair

Traveling the world is what I have been dreaming about for years. I have looked forward to retirement for that very reason and here I am, retired and ready to travel. I have to decide where I want to go and now I just need to see if my husband wants to go to those places also.

I have been looking over several Australia maps lately. I’ve never been to the Land Down Under so it seems like the perfect place to travel in. I want to go to Sydney and I want to travel in the desert there. I hope my hubby wants to go too.

I have been looking over some maps of Russia also. I know that I could spend the rest of my life there and still not see everything. However, I’ve always wanted to see the Kremlin in person. I’ve seen many pictures of it and it looks breathtaking in those so I bet it’s even more astonishing in person.

But I’m thinking that my husband will just want to travel around Florida. He loves Florida and he’s been trying to get me to retire there for several years. His map of Florida has Orlando and Miami Beach circled. I think he wants to at least be snowbirds there. I would consider that if he agrees to travel the world with me.

I guess retirement surprises most people and we’re lucky enough to be able to decide what we want to do with ours. A few more compromises won’t hurt…

I have often longed to visit Europe. There are many countries that I would like to go to but I would most like to visit Bulgaria, Greece and Poland. I wouldn’t complain if I got to go to Europe and didn’t visit those places. I just want to see them more than others.

I have a map of Bulgaria with the towns that I would have to see circled. Sofia, the capital, has beautiful attractions that one should not miss. Attractions such as the Alexander Nevsky Catherdral draw thousands of tourists every year.

I would also like to visit Greece. My map of Greece has Athens circled on it with notes to visit the site of the 2004 Olympics. There is a lot of history there and in Poland.

My map of Poland has Warsaw, the capital, circled. They lost over 6 million people in World War II and I think that if I were ever able to visit that country, I would want to pay homage to the vicitims.

I was recently cleaning out my desk and I ended up getting so distracted that I didn’t get much done. I found several maps from past trips and from trips in the near future. I found my maps of Florida from last summer with a few salt water stains and a little bit of sand still stuck on it from the beach.

Next I found several maps of England with notes from all of the places I went to. That trip was great even though it rained most of the time. I don’t mind the rain but my map of France is covered with water marks and several of the notes I made are unreadable.

But of all of the maps of Europe that I found, the one from Spain is my favorite. I remember sipping on coffee while reviewing where I was going to go next with a fondness that doesn’t seem to go away.

I didn’t realize what a huge difference it makes when you drive with new truck SUV tires. I got new truck wheels a few weeks ago and I thought that I could feel the difference in the way my truck drove then but that wasn’t anything compared to now.

Route 66 seemed bumpy the last few months but now it seems so much smoother and I think it’s because of the Cooper tires and cheap rims. I bet if everyone did what I did they would notice that the road suddenly has less potholes.

I should have known. I guess maybe I’ll enjoy driving more now that my SUV and I won’t think the road needs to be re-paved.

I like to travel.  Most people know that about me.  I’m one of the few people with two globes in my office.   When people ask me why I have to say it has to do with my  thirst for knowledge about all things related to geography and the world around me.  And that in a nutshell is why I travel!

As I have a passion for travel I also have a passion for maps.   The two go hand in hand.  I have a map of America on my office wall.  On opening my desk drawer I see a map of Alabama, a map of Austria, a map of Chile, and a map of Costa Rica!  These are all future trips I am planning - and some further afield than others!  As I plan these trips, as I think about them and as I get close to leaving I refer to these maps constantly.  I get inspiration from them.  And when the time arrives that I will head out the door to take the trip - my much worn map will be in hand to guide me on my travels.