A Smaller World

I'm not much of a one for foreign travel.  I went on Voluntary Service Overseas when I was twenty one, came home with both legs seriously broken and then never left these shores until I was fifty and my sister wanted to visit Alaska so I went to carry her bags. When I was nearly sixty I decided to do my cruise of a lifetime so sailed across the Atlantic and up the east coast of North America from New York to New Brunswick.  Since then I've been to Bruges to see my nephew a couple of times but really I am quite content to explore my own island.   

And yet I'm very aware that when I say I'm not much of a one for foreign travel I am comparing myself to my contemporaries.  One of my friends returned from Australia having gone to help at the birth of her third grandchild.  Another is planning a visit to New Zealand to see her daughter in the autumn.  My cousins daughter is holidaying soon in Thailand and a friend will soon be accompanying her husband on a business trip to Vietnam.

But my grandmother never left this county, never mind this country!  My grandfather served in France in the Great War and never wanted to cross the sea again.  Compared to that generation I am very well travelled.

However, even without leaving my armchair I can chat with people in far off lands.  It's nearly 2am here and I have been chatting on line with a friend in Texas and talking about holidays, the weather. her grandchildren, my trundle truck and all the minutiae of everyday life.  I wouldn't be doing that to any of my local friends as 2am is a rather unsociable time to chat but it's about 8pm where my Texan friend is.

I may not travel - but the world comes to me.