What makes travel romantic?

It’s the excitement of discovery. It’s the call of the open road armed with only a road map (or GPS) and a vague idea of where you’re going. Especially when you aren’t on a ‘guided tour’ and are traveling pretty much our own. Sometimes scary, sometimes pretty exciting.

Even the most detailed map is only an indication of what you will truly experience along the way. It can tell you where is 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.

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 many of mine do.

One of the most romantic aspects of any new relationship is the very newness of it, the walking into the unknown, the exploration of one 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 have moved into the state of relationship. Hopefully it’s still an exciting state with lots of sunshine and only enough rain.

I once asked a young male friend if he was dating his current female friend or if they were already 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 something comforting about finding the right place to lay your head, and when you do, you’re no longer on the road. You’re home.

Romance and travel, they go together well, like bread and butter.

Enjoy always, T