Wanderlust

Wanderlust (Middle High German: wandern, to wander, and Lust, desire) is a German loanword. It is commonly defined as a strong desire to travel, or by having an itch to get out and see the world [1]. Some consider it to be a simple linguistic compound of wander and lust.



It's an interesting thing. Reading all of my fellow scooterists blogs don't help either. See, here in the real world, i'm definitely no world traveler. I go to work. I come home. That's the majority of it. But in my head, I'm going cross country with my whole life piled up and bungeed in place on the backseat of my bike (I'm still trying to figure out how I could safely carry my guitar). My friend Zach, though not a two-wheeler, is definitely a wanderer. He just recently finished a 4 month stint in Australia, came back for almost a month, then on a whim went off to South Korea for the next 13 months, this time with a work visa to teach English. I mention him because I've definitely been guilty of a little envy lately. I've always seen myself as the type to travel without really having a destination in mind. I do it all day in my mind. Unfortunately, here in reality, every trip I've ever been on has been carefully planned, calculated, and scheduled, in true family vacation fashion, and with 4 wheels firmly planted under my feet.

Even when I had my little Vino125, I would imagine how far it could go. I'd look at maps, drawing out in my mind the web of tiny little back roads that could carry me to who knows where. Now that I have the majesty, my range seems only limited by coast lines (which are all a pretty good stretch from Oklahoma) and how much I can manage to carry. So, why haven't I been discovering every little nook and cranny of this state, every time I had a couple days to myself? Why am I not sleeping in my tent as much as in my bed? The truth is... I don't really know. I guess my bark is just worse than my bite. I talk about my list of nifty little backpacker gadgets that I'd like to take on the road with me. I talk about places I haven't seen lately that I'd like to return to, and it's a rare day when you don't hear me say something along the lines of "when I start touring...". So what's keeping me here? What's preventing my wanderlust from becoming wander-satisfaction? That's what I'd like to figure out...