Wondering about wanderlust
By Liz Biggs
I wonder about wanderlust. Am I the only one consumed with it? Why am I curiouser and curiouser like Alice in Wonderland?
According to Wikipedia, wanderlust is the intense urge for self-development by experiencing the unknown, confronting unforeseen challenges and getting to know unfamiliar cultures, ways of life and behaviors. Yep, Dr. Wikipedia has diagnosed me. Also, I love the Devo song “Uncontrollable Urge.”
A year ago, I was diagnosed with cancer and lived to tell. Is that why I hastily traveled to Rome, Florence, Portugal, Spain, Australia and New Zealand and will depart for Greece and Turkey in April?
A few years ago, I traveled with family to Spain and North Africa. We stayed with my sister’s dear friend, Carol, in Morocco. Carol had lived in East Hill; when her husband passed away, she and her cat moved to Tangier. She learned the language, immersed herself in the culture and became the quintessential expat. I was incredibly grateful to stay with her and learn firsthand about life in Tangier. We rocked the Casbah and rode a camel on the beach. We went to one of the most beautiful places on Earth, the artsy mountain town of Chefchaouen — the “Blue City” — where all the buildings are shades of blue. A few years later, Carol’s breast cancer snuck back in and she died suddenly. Maybe Carol is the inspiration for my wanderlust?
No, I think I was born with the wanderlust gene. As soon as I could walk, I wandered the neighborhood knocking on doors looking for new friends and adventures.
During my sophomore year in college, I won a scholarship contest and immediately transferred the money to a study abroad program in London. Not knowing a soul and with no credit card — teenagers didn’t have access to them in 1983; heck, females barely did back then but that’s another story — I got on plane with a small suitcase and $200 cash to last me an entire term at the London School of Economics. I only ate meals in the dorm cafeteria so I could spend every pence on weekend train travel. I didn’t want to waste my precious few coins on a pay phone so I wrote letters to my mom to let her know I was okay. Maybe that experience is what fuels my desire to jump at the chance to travel? Even as a broke teenager, I still had the time of my life. Travel may be expensive, but wandering is free.
After 28 years, the curtains in our living room started to dry rot and fall off the rickety, paint-peeled curtain rings. My husband begged me to replace them. I got an estimate for custom-designed drapes but I told my hubs, “We could go to Australia for two weeks for the same price as these curtains.” Guess what? We went to Australia. I ordered some cheap ready-made curtains online for a fraction of the price. Every time I’m tempted to buy something, I think, “That’s the price of a ticket to … !” And then I talk myself out of buying it. Am I the only one who does that? I wonder.
Sociologists distinguish sunlust from wanderlust as motivating forces — the former primarily seeking relaxation, the latter, engagement with different cultural experiences. Hmmm, well at least I know I’m not afflicted with sunlust. Beach vacations are not my jam. I’ll end this rant with my favorite line from the Rolling Stones song, “Rocks Off” — “The sunshine bores the daylights out of me.” I think growing up in a beachy town, “laying out” too much as a teenager (so boring) ruined beach vacays for me. Or maybe I’m a vampire, LOL. Or just a curious cat. I wonder. Do I have kindred spirits out there? Maybe I should start a Wanderlust Club.
