Still wishing for a Stargate ...
... or for the crows to be in charge
Hi, and thank you for reading Looking to the Horizon. I write on many different topics because life is too interesting to be niche. However, travel, creative writing, faith and nature are likely to crop up fairly often. You can receive my posts for free direct to your email inbox as a subscriber - click the button below. If you’ve already subscribed - thank you!
I love to travel and I am hugely privileged in getting to do so both for work and leisure purposes. I do, however, wish that planning and booking trips did not require my brain to twist itself into knots as I attempt to figure out the best itinerary for both efficient use of time and finances.
I’m probably spoilt by the fact that I live within easy travelling distance of both Luton and Heathrow Airports. From these two hubs it is possible to fly direct to almost anywhere in the world. Sadly this is not true of international airports in other countries. In late October I want to get from Skopje in North Macedonia to Amsterdam in the Netherlands. To do this is a manner that won’t make my credit card weep for a month, it seems that I need to fly:
Luton - Skopje - Luton - Amsterdam - Luton.
I know you are probably thinking this is a first-world problem and you’d be justified in that. My point, though, is that in a world where we may think we are all closely connected to one another this simply isn’t the case when it comes to air travel. To be honest it feels more like our local bus service which requires passengers to go into the city centre in order to reach other destinations that are actually quite close as the crow flies. And there’s a pertinent idiom. Perhaps we need the crows to take control of the world’s airlines - I’ve heard they are very smart birds and they wouldn’t put up with the nonsense of unnecessary flight miles.
Welcome to the paperwork
Then there is the paperwork. I am beyond grateful that the days of pandemic travel have faded away. Oh the trauma of having to upload proof of vaccinations and detailed passenger location forms. I remember flinching as one website opened up demanding I input information into a form that liberally used capital red capital letters. My blood pressure shot up at the subconscious triggering of an alert to danger.
These days there is still a need for visas for many countries, although again I am fortunate to be a UK passport holder which is fairly widely accepted visa-free. Come January, though, I am planning to return to India and then travel on to Kenya. Both these countries require me to obtain a visa, albeit it electronically.
I do find the whole process of applying for visas quite nerve-wracking, not least the need to upload a photo that meets the size requirements and various other demands. Having failed at the first attempt to provide the UK passport office with a suitable photo despite using an approved-photo booth this fills me with gloom. However, worse case scenario is that my visas will also bear images of me looking like a startled ferret.
Embracing the experience
Oh well, it will be worth it in the long run. The Roman philosopher Seneca is attributed with saying that ‘Travel and change of place impart new vigour to the mind.’
I don’t know about ‘vigour’ - it is often quite exhausting - but I do know it has given me a deep appreciation of the diverse cultures of the world. Much as I’ve enjoyed being at home these past few weeks I must confess my feet are itching to be off again.
But I still wish someone would invent the Stargate. What a joy it would be to step from one location to another as easily as walking through a doorway. Of course, there would probably still be a need for visas. And I’d still look like a startled ferret on arrival.
