Harbor on Island of Hvar, Croatia
Hi-
If you want to buy an ancient stone building, sans roof, on a beautiful island in the Adriatic, I saw some for sale. For a moment, I tried to imagine what the real estate listing would say, but from the back of a scooter, my mind was quickly distracting by the sweeping views.
I’ve never been on a motorcycle before – do you think riding on the back of this scooter counts?
Lots of love,
A
Basilica di Santa Chiara at night. Assisi, Italy
Invariably, when I’m taking in a sunset, climbing steep stone steps or sipping wine at a sidewalk cafe, I recall another similar experience. A call it a trip flashback.
Walking through the ancient, hilly streets of Erice, Sicily at night reminded me of exploring the mountain-top town of Assisi, Italy in the moonlight. Climbing the Marjan in Split, Croatia brought to mind the hike to Sant Jeroni the top of Santa Maria de Montserrat in Catalonia, Spain. No matter where I am in the world, a crisp fall day with leaves crunching between my feet and a brick road always transports me to East Green Drive in Athens, Ohio.
These recollections are both welcome and disconcerting. Travel is one part enjoying the experience and one part collecting the memory. Conscientiously, I want to absorb the moment and file it way. But when is it ok for the memory to return? I’m not sure whether these memories cloud or enhance a journey.
No two places are the same, and I can only be in one place at a time. As much as I loved every bite of that beavertail in Blue Mountain, Canada, its memory should not interfere with enjoyment of the crepe I’m eating in the market in LeMans, France. There only so much Nutella in the world I can eat at a time. The same should be said of experiences.
I need to accept that I can’t be everywhere at once. That beautiful sunset in Kauai – yeah, that is going to happen tonight even though I’m in Cambridge, England. Lucky for me, I am learning to enjoy what I have right here, right now. And someday when I get back to Kauai, that sunset will be waiting for me, as will that beavertail in Canada.
