347. Why Travel

I don't make a secret of the fact that I'd probably be happy spending every vacation minute I have at our house in Maine. However, it's not true that my daughters want to come to Maine (or Lakeville) too often to visit us, so when my boss (Hi, CB!) told me that the way he gets to see his adult daughters is by bringing them to places everyone in the family wants to go, I listened.

Since then, we've had family trips to Nashville (glorious), San Diego (also wonderful), Mexico City, and Palm Springs/Palm Desert/Indio. Leading up to each trip, anxiety sets in. I worry about what's going to go wrong or if I'll be able to go. Nine days before our Mexico City departure, I got diagnosed with pneumonia. Zero out of ten--would not recommend! But I did get the okay from a doctor to travel, medicated, so I went on the trip. We've had other medical emergencies in the past that have precluded planned trips.

I worry also about the flight -- will I get airsick? Will it be delayed beyond reason? Will my back hurt? Will the person in the chair in front of me recline so far that their headrest knocks out my teeth? (Okay, I didn't say all of my worries were reasonable, just that I have them.)

I get concerned about the reservations and exchange rates and on-ground transportation and weather and all of the things that are totally beyond my control.

Then I get where I'm going, and I get to be with the people I love. (Hi, ACE; I always want to spend time with you.) And I get to see the things that don't exist in Lakeville or Maine. In Mexico City, we went to all of the following:

• the public library, pictured above. It's one of the coolest buildings I've ever seen. The bookshelves hang from the ceiling.
• luchador matches, which are an enthralling combination of theater, acrobatics, and wrestling.
• a perfumery with amazing scents and bottles and ambiance.
• great restaurants, found by my daughter on TikTok. (Although the street food smells terrific, we were too scared to try it. Alas, the elusive street taco!)
• ruins at Teotihuacán -- such an amazing day trip, and even my weak lungs managed the stairs (with breaks).
• Museo Soumaya -- housed in a super cool edifice, it has an eclectic collection of amazing art and artifacts.
• Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera's house, which has also been turned into a museum.

Okay, so that list got longer than I meant for it to get because this post was NOT supposed to be a tourist ad for Mexico City. (Though, why not? It's worth the trip!)

In fact, when I started writing, I was contemplating the benefits of the first list that came to mind. I was really thinking about the things that could go wrong and why they're not bad. My point, before I got sidetracked into telling you about one particular trip is that it's good for us to learn to roll with/over/through the obstacles life throws our way. It's healthy to put ourselves in new situations that aren't always easy or comfortable and to learn how to make the best of things. We should have to try some new foods, walk in the heat and/or rain, sleep with sounds we're not accustomed to hearing. My sense is that the more we learn to find joy in the uncomfortable, the more grateful and happy we'll be in the everyday, as well.

What do you think? Please share any responses in the comments.