Susie's Leaning Tower of Chocolate for 2013 January 27

This post has been a long time coming. Lately, John and I have both had the beginnings of an itch to go somewhere. I'm wondering if these two of my highest desires conflict: one being home and the other being travel. I've decided not because at the root of it all is my family. John recalled a recent talk my L. Tom Perry where he quoted a letter he wrote to his mother saying, "You and Dad were never going on vacations alone. The family was always with you." Home is where the heart is. And I do like to drag my family all around the world (my easy-going personality makes that actually fun instead of miserable). And if we have more kids, we'll drag them. And when we have grand babies, we'll give them the opportunity. And when we're old and gray and have only each other, we'll be one of those adorable couples getting terrific use out of their Senior Pass to the National Parks, and working at Disney World.

I don't know where I'm going with this. The expiration of our Disney passes is just around the corner. We looked into some things for our trip to San Diego this summer and that helped. We are also planning a trip up the coast and to Yosemite to meet John's family. But it's not quite scratching that itch. From Tom Waits' song Shiver Me Timbers: My body's at home, but my heart’s in the wind

A few travel quotes I've collected:

The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page. – St. Augustine

Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Two roads diverged in a wood and I – I took the one less traveled by. – Robert Frost

A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step. – Lao Tzu

Not all those who wander are lost. – J. R. R. Tolkien

Travellers never think that they are the foreigners. – Mason Cooley

There is no happiness for the person who does not travel. For Indra is the friend of the traveler, therefore wander! - Brahmann

Without new experiences, something inside of us sleeps. The sleeper must awaken. - Frank Herbert

A few India specific travel quotes:

A good traveler has no fixed plans and is not intent on arriving. –Lao Tzu

Embrace the detours. - Kevin Charbonneau

When overseas you learn more about your own country, than you do the place you're visiting. - Clint Borgen

The first condition of understanding a foreign country is to smell it. – Rudyard Kipling

Travel is glamorous only in retrospect. – Paul Theroux

If you reject the food, ignore the customs, fear the religion and avoid the people, you might better stay at home. - James A. Michener