Time to stay home?

I traveled recently to Los Angeles to see a play of mine performed in a festival and to visit with some of the friends I left behind when I moved to Seattle.  It was a lovely trip; everything went well.  The play was performed nicely.  I got to eat at some truly wonderful restaurants.  I made my way around the once-familiar city fairly easily (thank you, GPS!), even though I was driving an SUV for the first time.  Although I had let a boatload of people know I was coming, only some responded or were available, which ended up being a blessing because it meant that the visiting times were intimate and personal.  All in all, it was a very good few days.  But man oh man, was it good to come home.

I have begun to anticipate the coming of a day when I'm not going to want to travel any more but will prefer to stay cozy and snug at home with Sweet Hubby.  I'm not ready for that day yet.  (My parents were never ready for it; when Mom died at 89, they were on a riverboat on the Mississippi on what was going to be - and was - their last vacation.)  I still have the urge to be out in the world, visiting, having adventures, experiencing new places and food and people.  Even so, these days it's just awfully nice to be home, not living out of a suitcase or hotel room, not to have the tension of making my way along unfamiliar streets and freeways, not being away from SH.

Maybe if SH liked to travel, my time of wanting to be out and about would last longer.  But he's a stay-at-home kinda guy.  When we do go out - and we do - it feels like a big deal.  After all, it takes effort to buy tickets, make a reservation, dress for public display, drive through traffic, look for parking, be among our fellow folks.  Even taking Covid concern out of the picture, it's not a small thing to go out.  So easy to be home dressed in our comfies with cats in our laps watching super heroes take on the bad guys.  So easy.  Very tempting.

But still, I'm just not ready for that yet.  It feels like a concession to old age that I'm not ready to make.  So I took that trip to L.A., and have another coming up soon to Pacific Grove to officiate my niece's wedding, and then another in early November to see a friend perform in Portland.  At this point, I'm taking advantage of travel opportunities almost as a challenge to myself, sort of like "Do it now because someday you won't want to."  I know I'll be glad I've gone where I've gone, stayed connected to distant friends, shaken up my routines a bit.

And then, man oh man, it will be good to be home.