Traveling Buddies

This week, our resident hound put forth an intriguing hypothetical question: You’re stuck in a minivan, for a LOOOONNNNGGG road-trip and you can’t drive. Which three people (living or dead, famous or not) would you prefer to travel with?

The hound didn’t say that we had to have a single destination in mind, so I’m going to imagine a trip that visits each of the continguous 48 states. There are a few websites that have the route mapped out. One goes to each state capital, and the other stops at landmarks in each state. I think I’d prefer the one that visits landmarks. I’m sure each state capital has something to offer, but I’m sure I’ll remember Mount Rushmore long after I’ve forgotten Pierre, SD.

I hope you’ll forgive me for not including my husband or children. Hubby HATES to travel, and when he agrees to go anywhere in a car with me (which is not often), he refuses to stop for ANYTHING other than gasoline and food. So if I’m not driving, he’s not coming along. As for my children, I’ve gone on wonderful road trips with them, but I’m sure that at this point in their lives, taking a road trip with their mother would be pretty low on their list of fun things to do. So I’ve chosen three others that I’ve never met, but who I think would be interesting travel companions:

It’s always nice to know where you’re going – nowadays I can get anywhere as long as I have my phone, and my car has a navigation system built in. But the maps don’t tell you much about the places you’re going, and I think it would be awesome to have travel book author Rick Steves along to guide me to the most interesting places along the way. If I had the time and the funds to embark on a trip like this, I would clear my schedule for at least a year so that I could experience as much as I could, and according to Rick’s books and videos I’ll have plenty to see and do.

I also think it’s a plus to have interesting, creative people around me. I’ve got several favorite authors, but I’d love to meet Janet Evanovich. I could be wrong but it just seems that the person who created fascinating characters like Stephanie Plum, Joe Morelli, Ranger, Lula, and Grandma Mazur (especially Grandma!) has got to be a fascinating person herself. As an author, I’d love to find out how she comes up with all these mystery plots!

 

One more person I’d love to spend time with would be my paternal grandfather. He died before I was born, so I never met him. He was the first of my family to arrive in America, somewhere around 1915. He was trained as an artist in Japan as well as in France, and one of his watercolors hangs in a prominent spot in my living room. I would love to chat with him about why he came to America, whether or not he ever wished he could return to his homeland, and most of all what he thought about his adopted country now. I’d also love to show him pictures of his descendants – he has five grandchildren, nine great-grandchildren, eleven great-great grandchildren and a couple of three times great-grandchildren now!

The hound didn’t specify that all three needed to be there at the same time. It would be nice to talk to each of these people individually – or maybe two at a time. After all, it’s going to take a good long time to travel to 48 states. There will be lots of time to talk.

Hound Dog also didn’t specify that their bodies had to be in the van. Since the possibility of getting these three to travel with me is slim to none, I’m going to propose that some of my Dream Team could accompany me through their books. Rick and Janet both have books available in audio versions so I can listen to them while working on my latest crochet project. As for Grandpa, I’ll have to settle for taking along an album of some of his watercolors.

Who would be on your Dream Travel Team?