| I remember my first visit to Paris. I was 21, and had | | | | more about how expensive the train is. Either way, |
| dropped out of college two years prior, caught in a | | | | eight hours later I was touching down in Paris. |
| spiraling travel addiction. It all began at age 16; my | | | | I was, strangely, not entirely looking forward to this trip. I |
| parents let me go visit Argentina one summer, and I | | | | had imagined a long weekend of crashing on friends' |
| was bitten by the travel bug. I saved up all my money | | | | tiny couches in Oxford. Instead one of my friend's |
| in high school so as to have a blowout, gap-year trip | | | | mother was there, and I was crashing in a $500 euro |
| upon my graduation from the drudgery of teenage | | | | night super fancy hotel. Knowing the wealthy, as it |
| education. I didn't tell my parents, but that summer after | | | | turns out, does have some privileges. Still, this wasn't |
| graduation I secretly deferred from Columbia | | | | the nonstop lager and zinfandel booze cruise through |
| University, bought a one-way ticket to New Zealand, | | | | Oxford I had planned. Instead, we saw the usual sights, |
| and told them a mere week before I left. My father | | | | the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, got into |
| nearly had a coronary, and my mother just shook her | | | | expensive jazz clubs, and went to fantastic bakeries. |
| head sadly. I was pretty much out of their lives for the | | | | I've never been much the city girl, and a lot of the |
| next five years; it took us that much time to make | | | | people on the Metro were exceedingly rude, but even |
| peace with each other. | | | | so, I was remarkably impressed by Paris. My only |
| My nearly year-long trip to New Zealand thoroughly | | | | regret is that I had the time to take some day trips |
| spoiled me. I had the time of my life, but that is for | | | | from Paris, and gotten out of the city. |
| another time. When I finally showed up for school the | | | | So what is the moral of this story, boys and girls? |
| next year, my heart wasn't in it. I survived a year, and | | | | Travel can take you many places, and they are |
| then left directly from JFK airport for Dar Es Salaam. I | | | | almost always unexpected. I never understood the |
| vanished for the entire summer, and somewhere along | | | | people who try and plan every last aspect of their trip. |
| the line ended up in Providence, Rhode Island, working | | | | The whole point of travel is to embrace the |
| at an independent bookstore. It was a strange time in | | | | unexpected! I had never planned to go to Paris. I |
| my life; it is always funny how things turn out. | | | | thought it too chic and touristy. Yet I ended up having a |
| However, Paris is the topic in question. I still had some | | | | fantastic time in all the finest places with all the finest |
| close friends from my disastrous first year at the | | | | people, complete with the finest free accommodation! |
| University. I knew from email communication that two | | | | In hindsight, the trip was definitely more edifying than |
| of them were studying abroad at Oxford that term. | | | | slurping down low-grade wine at the local pub in |
| One week, sitting in my dingy, moldy, shag-carpeted | | | | Oxford. |
| Providence apartment, listening to the neighborhood | | | | But this is not just about Paris. On a deeper level, sure, |
| children fornicating in the adjacent park, I realized that I | | | | I was addicted to travel. At one point I thought it had |
| had enough liquid cash to buy that plane ticket to the | | | | destroyed my life. I dropped out of university for a total |
| United Kingdom. Due to a no-longer remembered | | | | of four years to work low-paying jobs and blow the |
| holiday, I was able to take a four day weekend with | | | | money on weekends to Canada. Yet in the end I |
| only one day off work. I went ahead and bought the | | | | returned with a newfound appreciation for education |
| ticket, figuring that it would be a fantastic surprise for | | | | that was reflected in my stellar grades. Employers |
| my friends. I would tell them when I arrived in Heath | | | | generally been extremely receptive to the experience |
| Row, or such was the plan. | | | | I've gained through my travels, and they like that I'm not |
| Upon my touchdown at Heath Row, I alerted my | | | | a cookie cutter candidate. As in all things, yes, travel |
| friends to my presence.....only to discover that they had | | | | has to be done in moderation. But never say never, |
| decided to spend the long weekend in Paris. Luckily, | | | | don't give up on your dreams, and sometimes, yes, do |
| intra-Europe flights are actually pretty cheap. It was | | | | something deliberately rash, stupid, and exhilarating. You |
| about the same price as taking the train from Heath | | | | never know where it may take you. |
| Row into downtown London, but I suppose that says | | | | |