She's Made for This (posted by Tomcat)

I love to travel. I love the thrill of going to an unknown place, the experience of the unknown. Meeting new people. Struggling with a language I know little about. Fumbling my way around an unknown downtown. I like all of this. It’s part of the adventure.

My job of recent years has had me traveling a fair bit, both domestically and internationally. So much so that I’ve had plenty of opportunities to build up an “immunity” to unpleasant necessities of travel. The fluorescent inhumanity of airport lounges, cramped coach seats on 16 hour flights to far away places. I’ve flown for work so much in the last decade that I pretty much zone out when I hit the airplane seat and am usually happily asleep before the plane taxis toward the runway for liftoff. I’ve got a rolodex of travel services cached in my head: which airports have a good shoe shine (MSP), which restaurant in NRT has the best-priced sushi, how long is the cab ride from airport such-in-such to downtown whatever. Yadda yadda. Facts of necessity more than anything.

But it’s been a long time since we took to the road. Sure, we take vacations. But it’s been ages since we took a real road trip. Just for the pleasure and adventure of it.

It’s been way too long. So long that I’ve almost forgotten what it’s like to see Curlytop truly in her element. Sure, I enjoy travel. But I don’t experience nearly the way Curlytop does. Travel is who she is. It’s what drives her and what she is most passionate about in life. Travel resonates in her soul. Especially road travel. The hum of the road, like some tuning fork resonating deep inside her. Inaudible to everyone else.

I knew that. Knew all about it. It's one of the things that's always fascinated me about her. Drawn me to her. Made me fall for her ages ago. But it’s been so long since we road tripped that I almost forgot about it. This trip is reminding me. How it brings out her adventurous spirit. Her fearlessness. She is meant for the road in a way that I almost can relate to but will probably never really understand. She wants to stop everywhere, see everything, experience every place. It’s almost like a madness. She wants to talk to everyone we pass. Strangers everywhere become friends. At dinner she strikes up conversations with the people at the next table over and 10 minutes later she’s taking their picture and scribbling down the address of this blog to share our adventure with them. She’s so incredibly happy when she’s moving and traveling and exploring. It’s been too long since she’s been on the road. I’m really glad we’re doing this. I’m more glad she’s doing this. I’d almost forgotten how much a part of her travel is.