Continuing on with the theme: the romance of travel – which I only hinted at in my post on Tuesday – I ask the question;

What makes travel romantic?

You there, on the left, in the red plaid kilt (ohh baby)…. Yes, bingo, it’s the unknown newness of the experience. It’s the excitement of discovery. It’s the call of the open road armed with only a road map and a vague idea of where you’re going, especially since we aren’t on a ‘guided tour’ and we’re doing this on our own. Yes folks, pretty scary, pretty exciting..

But even the most detailed map is only an indication of what you will truly experience along the way. It can tell you where’s the next turn in the road, but it can’t tell you what you will find there or how you’ll react when you take that turn and find a beautiful ancient castle or a decrepit old farm house.

Yes, it’s the lure of the unknown, the path not yet taken that draws out our romantic instincts. It’s no wonder that so many romance stories include travel. I know mine does.

One of the most romantic aspects of a new relationship is the very newness of it, the walking into the unknown, the exploration of another. The romantic newness of any relationship can last for a good long time, if you want it to and are willing to work at it, but somewhere along the way you’re going to find you’re no longer in the romancing stage and move into the state of relationship. Hopefully it’s still an exciting state with lots of sunshine and only enough rain.   (Bonus question here: Who can tell me when I used the metaphor of exploration in Return In Time?)

When the romantic high settles down then the “relationship” settles in. I once asked a young male friend if he was dating his current female friend or if they were a couple. He asked how was he to know? I said, when you know you’re going to see her again – and only her – then you’re a couple. Not unlike travel, if you know you’re going to be someplace for a while, you’re no longer traveling, you’re either visiting (which is like shacking-up together) or living there (rather like being married). There’s nothing wrong with finding the right place to lay your head, but when you do, but you’re no longer on the road.

Romance and travel, they do go together, like bread and butter. And like I said onTuesday, it’s great to travel, but it’s good to be back home.

Enjoy always, T