Travel abroad

I wish I had traveled abroad a bit more in my early years.

One of my deepest regrets is that I passed up a scholarship that included four years of study plus one year of study abroad.

Where would I have gone? How would the experience have changed who I am today?

I had more of a travel itch right after college than I do now, too, but I scratched it with shorter trips to natural areas, plus one three-week stint of fighting wildfire in California.

Today, I'm content to exist in a relatively confined geographic area. Oh, I'm interested in other cultures, but I also crave a strong sense of home.

That's why I'm thinking more and more about my hometown. That why, if given a choice, I really believe I could get rid of my car and set myself up to have my job, my home and a market capable of supplying my basic needs within a five-mile radius.