the unpremeditated tourist

[constance]

Every now and then -- but more often than is good for my peace of mind -- I get these emails from I think it's Hotwire, announcing dollar fares for Spirit Airlines, odd tickets to odd places at odd times, just selling the space; even a dollar is better than nothing for them, I guess. I love those emails. The idea that I could travel anywhere at all for a dollar kind of frees my imagination, you know? Suddenly, I see the limitless possibilities in going to a place I wouldn't normally have any reason to visit: Lexington may be a lovely city, but if I don't know anyone there and don't have any particular reason to visit, then I'm not going to put it at the top of my list.

Unless it's only going to put me out one dollar (and of course a day of aggravation at Hartsfield International, I guess we shouldn't forget that). Then suddenly Lexington seems aces to me. I can see myself climbing on a plane the way Enid climbs onto the bus in Ghost World, without knowing where it's headed or what's waiting for her when she gets there. I see myself in a hotel room in a city where no one knows me and I know that even though I would probably stay in my room and order in pizza and watch cable TV, I could do anything, and no one from my real life would have any idea. No one would would know where to find me. I could be anyone.

This fantasy reminds me of a man I used to work with. He was, it seemed to me from the worm's-eye-view of 23, impossibly old, though I suppose he was only in his sixties, and every year, he took a week off work, drove to the airport, bought a ticket on the next flight out, and spent his week wherever the flight took him.

That's what he told me, anyway. It's entirely possible he was just kidding me when he told me about it, possible that he didn't think his reasons for going to Kalamazoo or wherever were anyone's but his own. But I've loved thinking of him doing this, ever since. For fifteen years, he's been my travel hero, going wherever the road leads him and happy to be there.

Maybe one day I'll take Spirit Airlines up on their offer, book a ticket on impulse, fly out on a Tuesday and back on a Thursday in the middle of January with three days' advance warning and no clear idea of what I'll do once I'm there. It won't be like anything I've ever done before, no meticulous timetables and itineraries, no one waiting for me to arrive. It'll be good for me.

Comments

[xanthophyllippa.livejournal.com]

This reminds me, vaguely, of the year I tried to buy a flight home for Thanksgiving and discovered that a ticket to London was cheaper. So I went to London. I stayed with friends and had a very lovely Thanksgiving dinner of roast chicken and a lot of other stuff at Mövenpick on Leicester Square, which no longer exists in the same incarnation as it did when I was there. I flew out on a Wednesday night and flew home on Sunday afternoon.

I can no longer do such impromptu, whimsical international travel; my old age has caught up with me. But a dollar flight to Lexington would be just my style.

[tofty.livejournal.com]

I love your impulse trip to London! I'd love to do something like that one day, but I fear it's beyond my current means. Still, though, something to keep in mind.

[xanthophyllippa.livejournal.com]

It was a blast. I came back from the trip feeling exhausted but refreshed, and when someone asked where I'd gone for Thanksgiving and I said, "London," he responded, "I didn't know you were Canadian." Hee.

The ticket that year cost me $250. I paid for that, and my parents fronted me some cash to get around town with. It was really fabulous. I wish I could still do international travel like that, but alas, I now need to be sedated.

[laurelwood.livejournal.com]

I love the idea of just picking up and going wherever a $1.00 ticket takes you. When I was in college, I had a friend (one of those same tall guys I went on that impromptu camping trip with) who worked for United Airlines as "the guy who waves in the planes". He frequently got opportunities to take free flights, and thought nothing of heading out for Helsinki in the middle of winter even though he had no money for lodging or food once he got there. "Hey, that's what nice women are for!" was his motto, and he was usually successful at finding girls to feed him and let him crash on their floors for a night, even without a common language. I always admired his sense of adventure.

Every city has something cool to see, doesn't it? Or am I being naive? A dollar...it really does free one's mind!

[tofty.livejournal.com]

Every city has something cool to see, doesn't it?

I'm with you there! That was the best part of being on the road, when I traveled for work. Every place was recognizable, but different from anywhere else, and even if there weren't any typical touristy things to run to, they were fascinating places.

Your friend sounds way more intrepid than I've ever been. But I'm getting braver, so maybe by the time I'm 60 I can make impulse trips to places where I don't speak the language. *quakes at the mere thought*

[xanthophyllippa.livejournal.com]

There are any number of friendly, non-axe-murdering people out there who speak a few words of English and are so eager to practice that they'll put you up for a night. Poland was like that - the two young waiters at the restaurant where I ate my wild boar and redcurrant preserves were beside themselves at the chance to talk to someone who really spoke English.

[emily-spinach.livejournal.com]

Lovely, lovely plan, or lack of one. Delivery pizza tastes better in hotels.

[tofty.livejournal.com]

I totally agree!