Sunday Scribblings: Questions of Travel

My take on the "with baggage" prompt from Sunday Scribblings was to create this meme. Seemed appropriate to lift the title from Elizabeth Bishop.

Questions of Travel

1. How many bags or suitcases do you own? 2 carry-ons, 2 big suitcases, and a duffle.

2. Carry-on or baggage check? With two kids, baggage check.

3. Have you ever traveled alone? Yes.

4. Do you talk to strangers when you travel? No. In fact, I make a point of giving off that "don't talk to me" vibe on every trip.

5. What's the one thing you never travel without? After the essentials, my journal.

6. Have you ever taken a train to your destination? Yes

7. When traveling in a car, who controls the radio? The driver.

8. When driving, do you mind when your passenger sleeps? Yes. Hate when that happens.

9. Do you prefer to fly or drive? Fly.

10. Are you afraid of dying in a plane crash? No.

11. Favorite movie about travel? Airplane--Leslie Nielsen at his best.

10. What places would you like to visit someday? I'd like to see Italy and Australia, but I'd also like to visit Napa Valley and Monterrey, CA.

11. Favorite things about airports? People coming and going. The overlapping of lives meeting in the nexus of the terminal.

12. Do you like airplane food? When I can get it, yes. Also, I love the smell of coffee on an airplane. Don't like to drink it, I just like the smell.

13. How do you pass the time on a flight? Writing.

14. Name something that you left at home but absolutely needed on a trip. Breast pump.

15. Other than a ticket, what do you like to purchase pre-flight? Magazines, bottled water.

16. Have you ever missed your connection? Once, from L.A. to Boston.

17. Are you a member of the mile-high club? No, but my husband and I did apply for a charter membership!

18. Worst travel experience? Traveling in the hours and days after 9/11. See #22.

19. Where was the last place you traveled? Norfolk, VA.

20. Favorite travel guide? Lonely Planet.

21. What's your favorite poem/book on travel? Poem: "Questions of Travel" by Elizabeth Bishop:

"Think of the long trip home. Should we have stayed at home and thought of here?
Where should we be today?"

And Paul Bowles, The Sheltering Sky (don't have the book in front of me but I think this is correct):

"A tourist is someone who thinks about going home the moment they arrive,
whereas a traveler might not come back at all."

22. Most memorable travel experience? Tim and I got married on 9/15/2001 in Norfolk, Virginia. We were scheduled to fly down from Massachusetts on 9/12. But 9/11 happened and we ended up driving all night to get to my hometown, 12 hours on the road. I remember passing NYC, not being able to travel anywhere within a 50-mile radius of the city. We took detour after detour. I remember being near the Garden State Parkway and hearing the faint sound of debris hit the car, as light as falling snow. The car had a thin layer of soot that looked like pollen.

We got married without a problem, and then a few days after we were able to fly off to our honeymoon. It was touch and go for a while, getting to the airport at 3:30 a.m. for a 9 a.m. flight. Once we got on the flight, there was a man who looked of middle-eastern decent. After some discussion, he was escorted off for no reason apparent to us. We just had a feeling that this was a sign of things to come.


23. Do you carry any emotional baggage? No. Like most baggage, I check it at the door before entering.