Friday 17 January 2014

Wish You Were Here



As we trip through mid-January and the Winter doldrums begin to take their full effect, our minds inevitably turn to dreams of escape. Sunnier climes, where the temperatures soar during the day and dinner is always accompanied by frosty margaritas. Some are lucky enough to make the escape from the Great Canadian Igloo, but what are those of us who can’t afford to stamp our passports to do?

I’ve always wanted to travel the world and experience other cultures, but it just never quite seems to happen. Life inevitably gets in the way, whether it’s in the form of school or work. And the lack of funds doesn’t help matters either. Yet I don’t feel to hard done by because I figured out a long time ago that I can go anywhere in the world – with just the turn of a page.

I may not get to experience some of the sensations of real travel – the food, the souveniers, the adorable foreign accents – but thanks to my local library I can experience a sort of travelling-lite. In a single week I can visit the snow-covered steppes of the Ukraine to play with reindeer; walk the streets of Paris past the houses of the world’s greatest couturiers; or take the Greenroad deep into Elfland with its magical trolls, faeries, and talking trees. No amount of money can get to some of these places, as many are fictional by nature, but in a way that’s actually better than real travel because there are no limits.  

With just the flash of my library card – my passport to the realms of fiction, if you will – I can go anywhere and experience anything. All without having to skip work or drain my bank account.

The question then becomes: where shall I stamp on my literary passport today? I’m thinking New York and London! Maybe I'll see you there :)

image from Tumblr

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