There was a time in my life that I did a fair bit of traveling. I used to go back and forth across states, both for social and for professional reasons, visiting friends and giving conference papers at various scholarly gatherings. After moving back to Texas, however, I grew much more sedentary, staying at home more and going other places–both in town and out of town–less. This has been partly because my family has needed me to be home, but part has also been that I do not need to go places as much. I do not conference as I used to do, and the friends I used to go galavanting across states to see are too far away for me to visit often or at all.

The recent trip to Raleigh reminded me of the change. My flights went well enough on the way up, though I was vaguely ill at ease with the now-unfamiliar motion of commercial aircraft, and my ears did not appreciate the descents from the heavens. I was able to sleep on one flight, though not the other, and it might’ve been nice to do so. I did do better at settling into my room than used to be the case for me, too, laying out what needed it before resting a little bit (and even then remaining active; writing soothes me).

Perhaps it is the years and the changes in my life that have made me better at this than I used to be. It’s certainly not recent practice; I’ve not traveled since last May (though I’ll be going again this May, too). But it is good to be reminded that I can do such things at need, and it might be better to know that I can actually enjoy myself a bit along the way.