I have a bad case of it! I love my farm, and I worked really hard to get where I am, but I keep dreaming of far away places...

I'm wanting to go to New Zealand, then Australia...since it's close. Then to Greece...Italy. I actually think New Zealand would be a fabulous place to live!

Been doing the dairy thing and raising children for awhile and it really is all encompassing, very gratifying and I wouldn't want to change any of it for a second! But, now the kids are older...and I cut way back on the livestock because I just can't do it to that extent any longer being alone.

I can't imagine not being here, aaaaaand yet.....

Anyone else get cases of wanderlust?

-- Patty (SycamoreHollow@aol.com), June 05, 2002

Answers

I got mine out of my system in my 20s. I traveled with my job requirements. Now the 'net is enough world travel for me.

-- Jay Blair in N. AL (jayblair678@yahoo.com), June 05, 2002.

I had that in my 20's & 30's, now I'm happy if I get away for the weekend.

-- Sherry (veggiemamma@msn.com), June 05, 2002.

I definitely have it. I have heard great things about New Zealand and would love to go to Greece and Italy. As I have a love of the water, since I live in the desert, figures Huh! Anyway would like to see much more of Mexico and Central America, since they are within driving distances.

-- BC (desertdweller44@yahoo.com), June 05, 2002.

I made the conscious decission when I was younger to do all that stuff before I settled down to get married and have kids. But I still want to get out and travel. I love meeting new people! I sort of have a dream of when kids are gone of doing a litle of that. I've thought of renting this place or doing a swap with someone in another area for awhile.

-- Susan in MN (nanaboo@paulbunyan.net), June 06, 2002.

...well, I was pregnant at 18, so never got the chance to travel much. Raising my children the way I wanted, ie not dumping them in daycare, but working and putting myself through college took up a lot of years! Also aquiring the farm and all that entails in itself, even if it is fairly small. Stock(!), (milking twice a day, feeding, years of generally waiting hand and foot on critters, lol) gardening, remodeling, etc, etc, this place is definately a work in progress. Sometimes a wake up and think....life just ran away from me! How did I get so OLD? Maybe it's a bit of the empty nest syndrome, or midlife crisis or some such cliche', although I ALWAYS wanted to travel. AND, I'm still in my thirties, (just barely) so can I plead youthful impetuousness? ;)

BC, lets leave these 'ol stick in the muds home and go explorin'! First stop, the Louve. heh heh, just kiddin' y'all.

Susan, that's an interesting idea...the swapping homestead thing. I don't know if I could trust my place to someone else! I'm not sure anyone would want it, it's not a palace...."country cottage" is the quaint way to put it, yup, that's it!

Yeah, I really feel like I'm at a bit of a crossroads...at the very least, I need a vacation! :^D

My enthusiasm for the farm is forced at times, it IS very frustrating sometimes trying to do it all alone. Spinning plates, spinning plates! And then...visions of vistas unseen...

Whitewashed adobe perched above cerulean sea. Morning mists swirling at the base of violet peaks. An open market, exotic speech and smells, mingled...

ooops, time to milk and quit wool gatherin'!

-- Patty (SycamoreHollow@aol.com), June 06, 2002.

I'm just grateful I waited until my 30s to even consider the possibility of setting down roots. With the absense of kids in our life my first wife and I got to do our wandering during our 20s without anything holding us back. I have been back to Ireland since and it just doesn't hold the same magic it did back then.

Why dont you consider selling out and short term proving property , then sell, travel and do it again. You could travel and homestead at the same time.

-- Jay Blair in N. AL (jayblair678@yahoo.com), June 06, 2002.

Patty,

Explorin' sounds good. However, until my current dearth of monetary resources improves, the only Louve viewing that I can afford is the free one on the internet and with my extremely slow internet service out here, that is a very very slow show. An interesting site, that will most likely only add to your wanderlust, if you like really meeting the people and experiencing a truer flavor of a country (ie Low budget travel), is called The Peoples Guide to Mexico, http://www.peoplesguide.com/ I met the authors a few years back and all the great first hand stories on their web site are from some pretty laid back people. Another neat travel web site is called Transitions Abroad, http://www.transitionsabroad.com/

-- BC (desertdweller44@yahoo.com), June 06, 2002.

My last trip out of the US was to Mexico. Quite a few years ago, and I decided I would see the USA before I would contribute to the resorts of the world again.

We rented a jeep and drove out into the countryside among the natives. I had never seen anything like the living conditions of the people in the villages. I just had never seen that kind of poverty, and I felt so guilty staying in that fancy resort that wasn't anything like the "real" Mexico.

Decided right then I'd do my traveling and spending at home.

-- Granny Hen (cluckin along@cs.com), June 06, 2002.

Maybe that is my problem, I been out west and desire to go again, see Yellowstone, Sequoia, Grand Tetons, Grand Canyon, Yosemite, Painted Desert, Petrified forest, Mount Rushmore, The Badlands and so many others, some I've seen before some I haven't. My parents took trips all over the world and one year they took 6 weeks to the U.S. it was the best trip of their life. Maybe that is what we need, we spend so much time aquiring a home and other material items that we don't alway have a spiritual connection. I'm not religious as todays religion goes, I feel more like the way the Native Americans did with Mother Earth and Father Sun, the Great Spirit in the sky. Well here I am rambling again. Dave

-- dave in ohio (dr43147@yahoo.com), June 07, 2002.

Jay, I am considering it...seriously. I just wish there was a way to finance the "venture" and NOT sell my farm! *sigh* I'm workin' on it... I'd also love to see Ireland! I'm half Irish and half....

...guess, BC? heh heh, I used to have to go to Mexico every summer when I was really young. Visit relatives. ;)

Granny it is sad the corruption and poverty! But some really beautiful places also.

-- Patty (SycamoreHollow@aol.com), June 07, 2002.

Patty,

What part of Mexico did you visit? I've been around almost all parts of northern Mexico and have research from the national archive dealing with Pancho Villa (not chasing his alleged hidden caches of gold) and would love to explore that research. Then there is the new humongous jade discovery in Guatemala that sounds worthy of a trip, as does the beach combers paradise that is alleged to be located along Baja.

-- BC (desertdweller44@yahoo.com), June 07, 2002.

Mornin' BC,

Well, I haven't been to Mexico since I was little, although my dad goes twice a year at least. My dad and me...I think we are too much alike, bull headed ol fart that he is! We can't seem to be able to be in the same room for more than an hour before sparks start flying, so a trip to Mexico together would end up in murder, I'm quite sure. :( I should go see my relatives by myself....buuut, I'm sorta the "black sheep". They would be thrilled to have me, but I think their lifestyles wouldn't be my idea of the more interesting "sights" of the country. Still, I should go I suppose. I guess now, I could do my own thing as well as visit everyone.

Annyway. The original "home" was in Mexico city, but the crime is so awful everyone has scattered to all points. My aunt still runs her factory out of that place though. My other aunts were mugged numerous times before they finally decided to move. And the pollution!

Back when we went every summer, we traveled all over Mexico to see friends and such. I DO have wonderful memories!

-- Patty (SycamoreHollow@aol.com), June 08, 2002.

Hi Patty,

Mexico city is one of the few places in Mexico that I have no desire to see or visit, for the reasons you stated and some others. Perhaps you should see that you have your own transportation when you visit next time. with your own transportation, a visit is more on your own terms and time schedule. Though I have no desire to drive in Mexico city and know people that go far out of their way to avoid driving there, for many reasons.

I have driven all around northern Mexico and to Copper Canyon many times and really enjoy the cool pines in the summer. Feel free to email me if you want.

-- BC (desertdweller44@yahoo.com), June 08, 2002.