50,000 Miles

I've added up my travel over the past year, according to my Skymiles account: nearly 50,000 miles. Earlier on this blog, I took a poll on which place I should go: Ireland, India, or Italy.

Well, the I's did indeed have it: by the end of April, I will have gone to all three, not to mention a trip to Berlin and a few other highlights along the way.

I'm more of a homebody than a traveler. "There is no frigate like a book," according to Emily Dickinson, "to take us lands away." I'd just as soon read a good book as do anything else in life. But I must say, the richness of the travels--with family, friends, artists, and colleagues--has transported me to a new place in life.

Finally, of course, it's always good to go back to the place you started--as I did last month to Isle of Hope (another "I" place), where I was born and where my mother grew up. We inspected the little cottage under renovation--and then visited Storycorps, one of my lifetime aspirations.

Storytelling and listening are, indeed, acts of love.