2. Future Destinations: Hadrian’s Wall, England

“Bring me my bow of burning gold! Bring me my arrows of desire!…” No, literally! It’s AD 125 again and the Brit–er, I mean, the Celts are–wait, no the Scots are com–oh, it’s AD 2013 again already? Too late… but hey let’s take a nice long walk in the English countryside, shall we?

(Welcome to the Future Destinations series! Here, I hope to describe in detail the places I want to visit in the future. The main idea behind each selection is that the place be something that most people of my age (mid-20’s) or nationality (American) would not normally want to see. So there will be no posts here about Las Vegas or Cancun or Paris or other popular places, for the most part. However, popular places are not banned outright from the selection process… I just prefer to find my own personal reasons to want to go there. Finally, in choosing non-/semi-non-popular places, I hope to expand your minds about the world and the geography around us, be it close to home or far flung to the other sides of the earth. Enjoy!)

Accompanying music for this post: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKRHWT6xdEU

So, what is it with me and walls in my travels, hm? First I stood atop one in Yosemite almost 23 years ago, and now I want to go see another one! At least this time it doesn’t involve 2,300-foot cliffs… I hope.

1. Past Journeys: Yosemite 1990

My family–Mom, Dad, Sis, and I–in Yosemite Valley. El Capitan stands tall in the background.

Early Memories

The first important travel trip in my life, to memory, came when I was 4 years old in 1990. There had been other major trips I had apparently taken–New York City while my mother was pregnant with me, as well as a trip to Pensacola, FL when I was 1 year old–but I have no memory of these places. This particular journey, while important for being my family’s first, was also important because it started off an almost-uninterrupted 14-year run of summer vacations.

0 (Zero): Introduction!

Hey there, need a lift?

Well, hop in.

Where ya headed? Hm? Nowhere in particular? Same here.

Guess we’re in for a long, ambling, rambling, meandering journey then.

Hm? Oh, yeah, I dunno where the road we’re on stops. I don’t even know where it began, and the details are fuzzy on when and where I got on it. But what I do know is that we’re here, now, and we’re… traveling. We’re doing the same thing that most of humanity has done since we learned how to walk: going places.

I guess while we’re at it, I should at least tell you where I’ve been, and where I want to go, and everything involved in getting there. Routes, food, people, music… yes, especially music. But that’s only one part of this blog.