The Anticipation of Travel.

Its an itch that scratches red raw. An urge that jolts me from my sleep. A reoccurring nightmare that I want to relive, over and over again.

Life in this city is great. Its vibrant and bustling with almost too much to do and see. If feels like there is a whole world on your doorstep. In reality there is. This is a crazy world, within the world. Its an assault on the senses upon walking out your door in downtown W1 London. But what my senses really crave is a true sensory experience. A real escape to a self-prescribed utopian land that dreams are made of. Whoever said 'We travel not to escape life, but for life not to escape us' couldnt of been more right.

Life escapes the majority of us. We wake up daily and get on with the days proceedings and then we rest our head down again later that night, wrapping it all up and storing it in the memory bank, appropriately labelled 'yesterday'. This process rolls like a tumbleweed across some peoples lives and thunders down the tracks like a snowball in others. We all play this game of life with a different twist. We all escape daily. Its just that the boundaries are different for all of us.

For that Im eternally grateful. My self imposed boundaries on life have been cast wide. I fostered an early desire to travel when I first possessed the means to be able to do so. It wasnt imposed on me, it was a choice. A desire. A relief to a personal itch.

I have travelled extensively. It surpasses anything I have ever done in my life due to the experiences Ive had, the people Ive met and the places Ive seen. I have attempted thus far in my short time on this earth to not let life escape me.

The days pass quicker each year however. I look behind me and see my youth slipping away in the dust that Ive kicked up. Settling over the roads that Ive walked upon, etching the memory of my footprints into history. My history as a human being on this earth.

Im a lucky man. My footprints have been left in some pretty amazing places. But the traveler within me knows that my feet would love to walk again. Theres only so much walking around London one can do.

But its not all melodramatic. Christ, youd think Id been padlocked to a wall for the past year. Ive walked the shores of Spain, France, Ireland and New Zealand and I feel like I havent even put my shoes on. I spose its that undying want for what you cannot have in a way. Cos if i had my way, Id eat peaches every day...

I have worn the dust of many foreign streets, but to brush it off would surely be a crime.
I have the memories of many foreign adventures, but to forget them, would surely be a sin.
So, breath in the dust, and keep the memories in.

- Rowland Waring-Flood

Walk on...