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The Itch

Writer's picture: ScottScott

Updated: Dec 19, 2020

The desire to travel is omnipresent with me. The desire to see new places and let life unfold often overrules the brain when it comes to boring things like work, paying bills, house projects, etc. I often find myself online hunting for a way to pull off getting out of town and getting my face in the wind when I need to be finishing the kitchen remodel or yanking out the guest bathroom.


So last week the itch was really, really bad. I'm telling you it was palpable and with every turn of the clock or sudden realization of the next smack of reality it just became heavier and heavier. I had to travel soon. The Scandinavia trip was booked for January 24th and was like 49 days out, but that wasn't enough it felt. Don't get me wrong, thirty days overseas is a long time, but surely I could find some time to run somewhere else for a week. The logical side of the brain was on high alert and trying to talk me out of spending some serious cash before being gone that long and, let's face it, needing some serious cash.


So I was intently looking at running down to the Keys for a week or so right before I left for overseas as Terri has never been there, but even that had a reality smack to it. As I write this I'm sitting in a dog park in Mobile, AL waiting on her to come out of surgery. Last week she found out that she had to have another surgery on her foot to fix the mistakes of the first one. Three weeks off of her foot and then that sexy, sexy moon boot meant trying to run to the Keys was a gamble time wise. Ugh.


Then, the blow I felt was coming but was hoping would not, Delta cancelled my dad's flight to Stockholm for fear of Covid! That is an entire topic that I just don't want to cover here, but talk about the death blow. We've been planning this trip for about two years it seems and everything, almost everything, had lined up. Nothing you can do about it and there is no sense getting irritated over what you can't control I suppose; however, the next smack was like a twisted Orwellian version of Serling's best work, my flight was still on! I was leaving earlier than dad by several days and both flights were landing in Stockholm. Guess they were predicting a spike once I landed 😏 There was no way I was doing this trip without dad as the two of us have worked on this together for so long.


The itch was unbearable and I couldn't find a way to scratch it. I found the briefest respite getting lost in Mobile waiting on Terri to come out of surgery. The pups and I left the dog park and just roamed through my neighboring city. Beautiful homes with some massive moss-filled Live Oaks lining quaint streets providing just enough satiation to my wanderlust, for the moment.


I was scheduled to leave just after Christmas to go cave diving with Ward again, which certainly would have provided some relief, but a death in the immediate family last week and the tumultuous political scene that is unfolding has forced the timeline on selling the inherited house. The tax hit is just not worth the risk so all hands and maximum effort are to be brought to bear on that project. Travel will just have to wait.


Well, as I mentioned above the desire to travel is always there, always relentless in my brain. It rises up from the shadowy recesses of my mind much like a gentle summer breeze across a field at first, but soon it is enough to luff the sails of my lust as it blusters around inside my head, and if I try to ignore it, try to suppress it for too long it becomes a howling tempest, an all consuming storm that drives down most other thoughts until I am able to let it free. I have found that writing about adventure, about getting lost with intent, about there being no wrong turns in my view helps to satisfy, albeit briefly, my wanderlust.


Sitting at work in the firehouse today I was looking ahead at my schedule and trying to figure out how I can get out of town with the two weeks left out of the six that I had originally scheduled off for Scandinavia. Those two weeks are filled with replacing the entire front door assembly on the house and cutting a new opening through the brick on the back of the house to install new French doors, as well as a few other minor fishing touches on early remodel projects that always seem to get left out. Being unable to squeeze in anything else I put in for annual leave on Valentine's Day and called in a swap for the second needed day and just like that I was up to three weeks off and time to get in the wind.


I am a huge fan of Airbnb both for finding a place the night I land somewhere and for planning smaller less nomadic adventures. Found an entire apartment on the second floor of a historic building in old town shall we say. As my girlfriend follows Wrong Turn I have found it necessary to hide my plans from you guys in order to keep them hidden from her. Let's just say there are airplanes, islands, rum, and some bloody good food lined up in my future. I realize that doesn't really narrow things down much, but I find it entertaining 😀

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Wayne Hunsucker
Wayne Hunsucker
10 déc. 2020

So, after Terri came out of surgery, did you guys make a decision on going somewhere? You might should have gone to the couch so she could work on the foot healing, but did you find a place to go?

J'aime
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