Travel and Aging: Adventures through Time

 On my road trip I realize that aging is like traveling through time. As children we yearn for time to pass quickly. “Next year I’ll be eight,” my granddaughter says with a dreamy faraway look in her eyes. We’re driving to Bear Mountain to see her camp. Within a few minutes of  the trip, she repeats every ten minutes or so, “When will we be there?”

Contrasting with an eight-year-olds’ anticipation for time to pass quickly, the 80-year-olds I know want time to slow down. They aren’t in a hurry to arrive at the final destination. 

 On the home front, routine dominates and time passes more quickly for both young and old. Travel is a way of slowing down time. We confront the novel, the unexpected, the need to problem-solve at every turn on the road.

 Living in New York City I feel deprived of fresh air. One of my goals on this journey is to load up on it. But I discover that none of the hotel and motel windows open; even the windows of ground-floor rooms are sealed tightly shut.

 I realize that we barricade ourselves from Nature in other ways. To some extent, we shut out our awareness of the nature of aging.

 But why not? Humans are naturally greedy. We want to live as long as possible and we strive for elements to support survival. Fresh air is one and explains my perturbation at finding the windows sealed. We share our life force with animals and plants. Who hasn’t been awed by the energy and determination of the seedling poking its fragile, slender stem through a crack in the cement!

 Conclusion: Travel and aging are opportunities to examine our passage through time and to recognize the natural state of greediness.  Every journey has an end. We do best not to squander our valuable resource-time which to some degree we can control.