William Mangieri's Blogs: Is it Where You Come From, or Where You’re Going? (the Second Part, and Yet Another Coupon)

Last week I gave a BRIEF run-down of WHAT I’ve already been and a little of WHERE; funny - I looked back at it and realized that I never did say much about places in my past, even though I knew I would be listing mostly places in the future.

Actually this whole topic may be a bit odd for me – you see, I’m by and large a homebody. I’ve done very little travelling.

On the rare vacations when I actually GO SOMEWHERE with my wife, we do try to explore wherever we are (all credit to her), but what’s really sad is that when I travel by myself (that would be for business), I rarely take advantage of being in a new place – I hole up in the hotel during my free time unless I have to go out in search of FOOD.

I’ve been outside the continental United States twice in my life – both times on business trips. Once to Puerto Rico (yes, I know it isn’t another country, but it feels like it), and once to Canada (Toronto), and aside from the travel that was necessary to get the BUSINESS part of the trip done, I really didn’t go anywhere while I was in those places.

And yet I have this list of places I would like to go. I know that I really want to see these places, but there’s a part of me that wonders – based on my past tendencies – whether I would actually visit the places, or just become an expert on the hotel room. That would be AWFUL – to go somewhere unique and only know about the inside of a room at the local Hyatt or Holiday Inn.

I think there might still be hope for me – my last business trip I spent a week driving from Denver & Ft Collins to Cheyenne and a couple of REALLY SMALL TOWNS in Nebraska I had actually intended to stay in my rooms and write, but instead spent a lot of time just looking around at the little that was there. Maybe I CAN change. Or maybe I was just trying to avoid writing. Maybe that’s it – I’ll trick myself into planning to do something that requires me to stay in my room, and then I’ll naturally avoid it by going outside and exploring.

So, where do I want to go? I was going to put these in reverse order, with my favorite on the bottom, but then it looks like the first place on the list is the last I’d like to see, when it’s really the 10^th, so, in order of personal preference (that’s right, this is about where I want to go):

Mars.

I’ve been saying I want to go there for decades, and the fact is, we humans (LIVING, BREATHING HUMANS, not our robotic representatives) should have reached there by now. Mars is relatively close, and since it’s near our own gravity, would be a good choice for a colony so if/when the cataclysmic meteor or comet finally takes down our Mother Earth (all movie goers should think by now that this is inevitable), we’ll still exist in sufficient numbers somewhere else for the human race to survive. Even though we’ve frittered away our time (and money) since the Apollo landings, there’s still a chance that we’ll get there in my lifetime (although it most likely won’t be me unless there’s a lottery.)

The Moon.

Because it’s another planetoid, and we’ve actually had humans there, and the chances of my getting there are probably infinitely better than Mars. I particularly want to be able to watch Earth Rise.

An Orbital Space Station.

This would currently be The ISS, but I’m not picky – whichever one is up there would be fine with me (I just hope by then it’s owned by a friendly power.) I used to downplay going JUST into orbit – it mostly seemed like settling, like, “Well, I couldn’t get to <planetoid of choice>, but at least I made it into orbit.” Oh, let’s face it, it IS settling. However, if I can’t get any further out than orbit, it’s still worth it for the spiritual experience. There seems to be something transformative, something that strikes those who “slip the surly bonds of earth”, something about seeing our planet and NOT being on it, that I would like the chance to experience.

(Hmmm – my first three choices are literally OUT OF THIS WORLD; you’d almost think I don’t like being here…)

England.

Partly because they speak ENGLISH, and my facility for foreign languages (if I ever had any) no longer exists. With that, along with other cultural similarities, it would have the feel of a real foreign trip without being as intimidating. And I really would like to see the many historical places that eventually grew into the lost colony across the Atlantic.

Scotland.

Because they almost sound like they’re speaking English, and what I’ve seen of the countryside looks impressive. And Castles.

Australia.

More near English, with an attitude (as stereotypically portrayed in film) that almost seems more American than modern day America is (I think we could use an infusion of this – or at least a reminder.) And it’s large enough to have a lot of interesting terrain.

Somewhere Undersea.

It will almost be like outer space – just more crowded. Not the Marianas Trench – I want to go deep enough where I know I’m underwater, but not so deep that I can’t see anything. I don’t just want to be in a pressurized tin can – I want to be able to experience what’s out there. By the time I get around to this there will be plenty more underwater hotels built and I’ll choose one then (I didn’t have to tell you which Martian hotel I was going to, did I?)

Antarctica.

For the isolation, desolation, and otherworldliness of it.

Norway.

To see the fjords and imagine longships.

A Tropical Island Beach Somewhere (Tahiti? – I’m not picky).

Tropical climate, breezes, the sound of waves, and a white beach – something that would encourage me to lose track of time. Beaches are something I enjoyed in my youth, but haven’t been near in decades (and the last one I was on was on a lake, not the ocean – it’s not the same thing. I have no desire to be on one in cold weather – I want to be comfortable and just melt comfortably away.

Sometimes a man’s gotta go where a man’s gotta go.

Just saying…

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My next ePublication is due out July 31^st (this Friday) – it’s time for “Reflections” (How much control do we have over what we turn into.) If you follow this blog or my Facebook writing page you’ll receive notification when it’s available.

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My featured work this week is “Anti-Social” (With technology changing our social contacts into avatars we see through electronic windows, which of your connections really know you?)- here’s the link:

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/402085?ref=NoTimeToThink

Use coupon code EZ28B to save 50% off the list price at check out on smashwords. The coupon is good through August 3^rd. Enjoy!

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William Mangieri’s writing can be found in many places, including: