We Digest

I’ve cooked the food and set the table. The dinner party has come and left, we masticated the veggies and the meat. Moved past the dessert of fruit and pie and ice cream cones. The guests left me, dishes are cleared and now washed—I sit and stare at them.

 

I digest.

 

Stories told over dinner have turned into stories to be told. I wait until the inspiration flows and the invites of dinner parties on this side of the world occur. I wait to write, I wait to tell and I’m trying to listen.

 

Image

Versus

“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.”

 

Marcel Proust

 

When alone on my travels I spend a lot of my time:

 

  • Reading
  • Writing
  • Thinking
  • Thinking about home
  • Day dreaming
  • Planning my next venture
  • Planning my trip home
  • Wishing I was with those people
  • Happy I’m alone
  • Jealous of the group of friends
  • Excited to talk to a stranger
  • Joyful to sit in silence

When traveling with a friend I spend a lot of my time:

  • Laughing until my stomach hurts
  • Telling stories
  • Listening to tales
  • Wishing I had a moment to read or write
  • Drinking a beer while people watching
  • Brainstorming where to go next
  • Talking about where we’ve been and dream to go
  • Annoyed that someone is always there
  • Ecstatic that I don’t have to be alone
  • Excited to share everything

There’s something positive and negative to be said for both ways of travel. Neither modes is my favorite. Both are wonderful, new and exciting. To be able to share this and to now know what I am capable has been such a gift.