Rants & Ravings of a "Karen"

Writing Challenge Day 4

Day 4 - Places I want to visit

So there are so many places I want to see and to visit. I love to travel and explore. Places near and far. I could come of with a list that goes on for pages of just cool historical places here that I want to see. I am still trying to get to all 50 states before I am 50 although I still have I think it's 23-ish states left on my list. Maine, Alaska, Washington, Oregon,Utah, Montana and the majority of the middle of the country. 
But ultimately I would love to travel internationally.

Fiji tops that list, it's just so beautiful and peaceful. And the water looks so beautiful who wouldn't want to go there. And while I was halfway across the Pacific I might as well continue on to Japan and eat sushi on the streets of Tokyo, travel around the Far East on a food tour, eating my way through bowl after bowl of Pho and pad Thai eating ramen noodles and authentic Chinese food.

Taking in all the Disney parks across the globe. I am a bit scattered. But as I get older the physicality of the actual travel is harder and harder so unfortunately I spend more and more of my time traveling through time and space in books and movies.
It's funny how this challenge is working out the ones that I think are going to be the easiest to write end up not being that easy. While the ones I thought I would struggle with I ended up writing and writing on. This was a subject I had spent most of my day thinking on as I was driving to and from Charleston but now that I sit down and write a lot of what I had thought of earlier seems to be trivial and pointless.
Although in all my driving I did work out updates for all of my current stories, just have to write them. Have found a new voice and a new non fan fiction story that I will have to write, but I will have to finish at least one of my other stories first. I also have another idea that I am going to be adding to this book. A new ongoing chapter that will be updated constantly, the chapter will be called "overheard conversations " a collection of bits of conversations overheard along my journey in this thing we call life.
I had one such experience today that was just too good not to write about!

As for places I want to visit, I think that I have finally come to realize that what many wise people before me have said it's not about the destination it's about the journey to reach it.
Wow I got all philosophical and shit! How crazy is that, but for real sometimes it's about the people you meet along the way and the times things didn't go as intended. Sometimes the best times are the ones that happened spontaneously.

Look I thought I was done but I think this calls for one more anecdote. While living in Orlando one day we were on the Epcot monorail headed towards magic kingdom when it stopped the only people in our car were, Hailey, myself and a family of 5. Who all looked exhausted and over the vacation. Let me start with a description
Dad- sitting upright backpack on smile on his face anxiously checking his watch, clutched in his hand was a handwritten piece of paper that he was constantly checking
Mom - sitting next to her husband slouched over looking exhausted, hat pulled low over her eyes, looks as if she is ready to return to her home in suburbia
Child 1 - age 14ish girl standing staring out the window chattering to mom about wanting to do something
Child 2 - age 16ish boy sitting leaning against window listening to music couldn't care less
Child 3 - oldest 18ish standing over dad asking him about something he wants to do but dad says isn't on the schedule

As I sit and watch and listen to this family argue and fight the father had made a very detailed schedule ok the man scheduled bathroom time! Ok this was also before magic bands this was still in the days of paper fast passes. So the fact that the monorail was stopped on the track midway between Epcot and the ticket and transportation center. So me being me, I asked where they were going next to which I got several answers. The father adamant that the schedule had to be followed or they would miss something. Hailey began talking to the teens about her favorite things and I was talking more to the parents. The oldest was graduating high school that spring and this was to be their last complete family vacation together before he was off to college. At this point I snatched the schedule from the dads hand. The mom looked relieved. I said we lived in Orlando and honestly if it was the families last vacation let the kids do what they wanted, if they missed something, it would give them an excuse to maybe want another vacation together. The breakdown lasted almost 35 minutes and we actually exchanged Facebook info and 2 weeks later I got a wonderful message from the father. He wanted to thank me for making the vacation perfect. He confided that he and his wife had been on the verge of splitting up and had planned on separating when the vacation was over. Once the schedule was gone and they went where they wanted only having to conform to dining reservations the family had connected in ways they hadn't since the children had been very young. It was a very touching message. But in that moment in the monorail I just knew that if I was at Disney and someone was telling me when to pee there was no way I could have fun. Where's the magic in that!

So if you take away anything it's cherish every minute and just have fun!

This picture is from a much more recent trip to Disney to prove its about the simple moments.

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Vote and comment below
Where would you like to visit? Real or fiction?