I had a strange conversation with a hairstylist in Macomb, Illinois, when I was an assistant professor at Western Illinois University. She was white, and I told her that I dreamed of traveling to Norway someday. She informed me that she wanted to visit Africa because her child was mixed-race. As a black woman, I thought, “There’s something wrong with this picture!” We laughed at the incongruity of our choices.
My dream of visiting Norway began when I read about the Vikings in elementary school. I thought about how brave it was to travel so far on boats. I wanted to see this land that encouraged such courage and hope. I am still fascinated by the long ships with their white sails flying in the breeze. I have traveled alone to Madrid, Spain, and to Geneva, Switzerland, but that was in 1998 and 2000, respectively. I was much younger, and the world seemed safer then.
But every year, when we plan our trips to Portugal to see the youngest grandchildren of our blended family, Norway seems to get further away from realization. We’ve traveled to Vienna, Paris, Budapest, Amsterdam, and Portugal. I loved every trip, even when I fell in Vienna and caused so much injury to my mouth and teeth.
Now that I have graduated from Cardiac Rehab after being hospitalized for Congestive Heart Failure, my mortality is very real to me. Although I know that no one lives forever, the most recent hospitalization gobsmacked me, and I feel as if I need to do the things left on my list of places, and Norway was at the top of the list for so many years that I feel if I miss seeing it, I can blame no one but myself.
It is not a place my wonderful husband wants to see. We keep saying that someday it will get done, but we are in our 70s. So, I am thinking of going alone this month while there is still some warmth there and a chance to see the Northern Lights before the snow starts to fall. I am healthy. I have cut out so much salt, and I am exercising every day, that I am down to only two preventative medicines.
So, I have a conundrum. I don’t expect my husband or my children to be happy about me traveling alone, but I am not afraid and believe that I will be just fine. My children didn’t approve of my other solo adventures, but I had great times and learned just how strong and courageous I can be when a gang of beggars in Spain accosted me for money. I don’t know how long the present wars in Israel, Gaza, Ukraine, and Iran will continue, but I think if I wait for them to end, I will never sail the fjords of Norway or see the Northern Lights. I would stay in a hotel rather than our usual Airbnb. I would take organized tours with groups of people, just as I did before.
What do you think? I am a good advice-taker, and I will be fine if I cannot go. But it took 25 years to realize my dream of visiting Bilbao, Spain, and I loved it. I just don’t want to miss out on this dream adventure.
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