Oh, The Places You'll Go!

I've been housebound for five days due to an eye infection, and yes, it has sucked. If I'm off work for more than 72 hours, it's usually because I'm on a getaway or a vacation. I take advantage of holidays and extended weekends to do my best to see as much of the world as I can. So... how have I spent this forced domestication? Planning trips of course.

When I visited my fiftieth state, Alaska, two years ago, it ended my personal quest to see them all. It was a valuable moment for me, but it started me thinking of new adventures, and fresh missions, and I sat down and wrote out lists of things to do and places to see. I always need dangling carrots in front of me to keep me motivated.

Once I made that decision to embark on a new quest or two, the possibilities were endless. Should I continue to chase lighthouses and keep a list until I reach a hundred? What about castles? Or MLB ballparks? Or iconic barbecue restaurants in the United States? Or National Parks? Civil War battlefields? How about passport stamps and new countries? Or (in true Marlon fashion) should I chase them all?

I perused my travel calendar for 2023 and started tweaking it just a bit, to see how many of my quests could be added to or achieved. If fifty is the magic number, then I'll shoot for that, unless there is a finite number, like MLB ballparks for example. There are thirty of them, and according to my list, I've already visited nine of them. I surveyed the trips already planned and I added four more so that I could go see some baseball games. Hopefully, it'll be up to fifteen by the year's end.

Lighthouses. Well, I have four trips on the agenda where I'll be in the vicinity of water, so I can add to that growing list (which is at fifteen). Coincidentally, those scheduled adventures are in foreign countries, so that number will go up as well. As far as castles, I'm okay with those. If I'm in the neighborhood, I'll check them out, but I feel like I've seen enough of them and those damned narrow staircases. Eight of them so far, and that quest is near the bottom of my agenda.

The most inspirational thing about these plans is to see how far I've come in making daydreams into realities, a worthy goal for anyone. Let's see how it all works out, God-willing and the creek don't rise.