I have a certain on-again off-again relationship with traveling. I grew up the son of a U.S. State Department employee and lived in Ecuador, Chile, Uruguay, Italy, and Maryland. After settling in Seattle at age 18 I said “enough” and had no interest in going anywhere anymore, ever.
A few years later I went on a some short road trips, and they sparked my imagination for seeing some of the U.S. Hot damn! You can go places without the indignity of air travel.
Ever since then I’ve been infatuated with road trips. Not so much for the where as for the feel of it. There’s something about long hours in a car away from routine, a sort of melancholy sense of freedom and adventure that I find exquisite, best paired with playing music. Touring is fun. I’m sort of shy and not very good at making friends on the road. Playing shows forces you to meet people, at least the other bands, bookers, etc.
My tenure in Brent Amaker and the Rodeo included a tour in Belgium and Germany, and so now I want to go to Europe some more. My wife and I took a quick trip to Paris and Prague in 2009, which was fun, but could have been better if we were less shy. We’ll play music next time.
Anyway, blah, here are some articles re: traveling.