Ohhh, oh: the Places I Want (NEED) to Go

With apologies to Dr. Seuss, who taught me travel was in my future -- but say the word "Go" to me now, and all I can think of is "Stop." I want to GO very badly, especially to New York, where I can see family. It's far enough that the trip would take several days in a car, and the thought of being on a plane with even 10 or more people is freaking me out. Hey, even the idea of going to the dentist, which I pretty much have to do this week, is freaking me out--and they're all wearing masks and shields.

The one (small) way I thought of to feel better is making a list of all the places I want to go and have always wanted to go. That way, I'll at least be able to peck at my destination bucket list when things get better. In order from 1 to 12, my list is below, divided into domestic travel and traveling abroad:

DOMESTIC WISH LIST

1. Long Island, New York: To start, the epicenter of my family is there right now, just like the virus-- but cases are decreasing and I have hope this could possibly happen sooner rather than later.

2. New York City: Again, want to see more friends and family, but am not sure when. :(

3. Lee, Massachusetts: three of my oldest friends and I planned to gather in Lee, where one lives, this summer. It may have to happen next summer, but I'm still holding out hope.

4. Kansas City, Kansas: a very important wedding happening between my son and his fiance, so I'm throwing an extra special plea out to God and the Universe to make it happen.

INTERNATIONAL WISH LIST

5. Prague, Czech Republic: Now I'm getting more exotic with my travel plans because hey, why not? I've wanted to see Prague forever, first, because I've heard it's among the most beautiful cities in the world, and two because any country that elected a playwright for its president is a country I want to see.

6. Gdansk, Poland: My very first play, which was a musical, focused on the Solidarity uprising in Gdansk in the 1980s. The shipyard where it happened turned into a discoteque (*SAD*) by now, but the strike and movement that happened there has been central to my life in countless ways, most notably in the refusal to lie down in the face of whatever craziness may be coming at you. I'd love to see Gdansk (and likely want to look in on Warsaw as well) - whenever possible.

7. Berlin: I've wanted to go since 1989 and before, when David Bowie insisted we'd take Manhattan first and then Berlin. I'm not terribly keen on the rest of Germany but the city's music, history (dark as it was) and theater are too intertwined with my own history to ignore.

8. Shannon, Ireland - and the whole country too. I visited Dublin with my husband a few years ago and fell completely in love with Ireland. My son and I agree we want to visit every country that starts with an I but this tops the list for me and always will. As soon as I set foot on the ground I felt home, which is weird, as I'm not Irish. But I'd happily live there if I could ever figure it out.

9. Florence, Milan, Rome, Rimini and Tuscany in Italy: my son was able to study in Rimini during college and his pictures were more than enough to entice me to want to see the entire country. I know this isn't a good time, but if I ever do go I'm starting in Milan, where I had family once upon a time, and taking the train to all the other places listed here. My friend Susan, who traveled wherever she could when she had the opportunity, traveled Italy by train and said it was the best money she'd ever spent.

10. Greece: I'm not sure where I should land and go yet, but I know it will be fun to research it.

11. Jerusalem, Israel: I have friends there and some family in Haifa and having been once, I feel I only tipped the proverbial iceberg, so to speak, and want/need to return to spend time with the people and places I only started to get to know.

12. Latvia and the Ukraine: My family fled Russia in the late nineteenth century, and one of my favorite sayings about the country was something I read in a magazine that said, "Russia! What can you do but leave it?" Of course now, Latvia is its own country and I want very much to visit Riga to find my father's side of the family. I also want to find Medzhibozh in the Ukraine, because that's where my mother's family came from. I don't know how such a trip would work but I realized I needed one more stop on my travel list, or it wouldn't be complete.

As wish lists go, I hope most of it will happen! Maybe with enough wishing, it will.