The other day I rummaged through all my pantry cabinets hoping to find something sweet.  I was desperate. I felt like I was in the middle of a movie where I was about to have a break down if I didn’t find that much needed item. Well, I wasn’t going to have a breakdown. Just my movie persona. I am going on three weeks, or it is four weeks, since I gave up candy. I am trying to cut back on sugar but sugar is in everything. Everything!!!!  I have started off my sugar-quest (or rather non sugar-quest) small. I have given up hard candy, gummies, and anything that is sweet and comes in a bag. Quite specific, I know. It is a start, nonetheless.

There I was searching frantically for something sweet. I then heard a commercial on the television showcasing the state of Oregon. I looked at the onscreen scenery. I stared and sat down. There was something else I was craving in that moment.  I was craving a trip. I wanted to go abroad again. I wanted to go on a 600-mile road trip. It is the weirdest feeling to crave a non-consumable. You can feel it in your being. You can even taste it. But it is not something that will fuel your body-at least, not through caloric intake.

I want to leave the city life for a bit and hit the trails, see the sea and smell new scents.

I have lived in three cities in one year. For some that may be enough excitement. For me that is just my crazy chaotic day to day that I cherish. However, I need to explore new lands and eat at new places. I need to plan out an itinerary and seek out history. I need to sit back with a small coffee cup in hand and watch the throngs of new people pass me by. I want to learn new cultural facts by being immersed in a new moment in time. I am craving this as much as I am craving sugar.

I am reminded of Bruce Springsteen’s Born to Run. 

“Sprung from cages out on highway nine,
Chrome wheeled, fuel injected,and steppin’ out over the line
H-Oh, Baby this town rips the bones from your back
It’s a death trap, it’s a suicide rap
We gotta get out while we’re young
`Cause tramps like us, baby we were born to run”

Got to get out on that travel highway and live.