Monday Meanderings: Daydreams,Details, Discoveries

“You love travel don’t you?!” a friend observed over coffee last week. 

Normally, that’s a pretty good observation, but on this particular day my life was segmented into “Must Do”, “Must Finish”, “Must not forget. . .”  and I wouldn't say I felt real smitten with travel.

Travelers know it well.  It’s that time prior to a trip when the mental list whirls around in your head and seems to grow longer, rather than shorter when put to paper.  It is the Details phase of travel. Not our favorite part.

We have spent a leisurely summer at home, devoting hours to planning and pondering, researching and reading about possible fall destinations.  This early phase is one we consider nearly as good as the trip itself: daydreaming about the next potential discoveries.

We let our imaginations soar as we pondered the possibilities on our tiny “Mediterranean” upstairs deck (pictured above). If we can't live in the Mediterranean, we've surrounded ourselves with living reminders of travels in that area: my fledgling  fig tree (Spain), olive tree and geraniums (Greece) and basil (Italy). . . the lavender plants (France) are in our garden. It was difficult back in August when Lake Washington shimmered in the afternoon sun to imagine how quickly we’d be putting autumn details to those summer daydreams. 


With our fall compass pointing finally toward Italy, our reading – both fact and fiction – became focused.   We found some great reads, by the way, and you can see them on the Amazon Carousel on the right hand side of our home page.

As summer has turned to fall, our daydreams have given way to  details, like: 1. Do we have confirmations from every place we are heading? 2. Maps – the paper kind -  gathered?   3. Clothes  (do we still fit our travel clothes?) 4. Are house-sitters and security confirmed? 5.Prescriptions refilled? 6. Have we put on the list everything we need to do to prepare for the trip?

My friend knows me well. We do love travel.  As we move from the daydream to details to discovery phase – we often observe that travel is a stimulant that makes us feel more alive.

I suspect if you are reading this blog, you also love travel. Are you in the dreaming, detail or discovery phase of a trip right now?