Hotels

Every once in a while I find myself taking inventory on things that I've done in my life, and while finding myself in that place today, I noticed the stack of hotel keys I've been collecting over the past 6 months or so. I can't say why I've been collecting them as the reason is part of a secret operation known only by a few (it's not as cool as I tried to make that sound), but the point is... that stack of keys represents a whole lotta hotels I've stayed in across the country. In fact, if I had kept all the keys from all the hotels I'd stayed in since getting a road gig almost 3 years ago, that stack would be a whole lot bigger.

What it makes me think about is how grateful I am for all the places throughout this country (and abroad) that I've gotten to see. I grew up in a fairly small town, and didn't do much traveling except for the occasional 250 mile jaunt to visit grandma and grandpa. I "learned" about other places in school, but never really saw much of anything until I was 17, when I went to Boston for a summer to attend a 5 week program at the Berklee College of Music. Since then I've been all over this country, as well as Mexico, Canada, Puerto Rico, Jamaica, the Caribbean, Kwajalein, Guam, Korea, Japan, and out on the open waters of the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico on a cruise ship.

I wasn't sure I wanted to write on this topic, because it can seem like I'm trying to sound fancy or looking to impress, but the real reason is that I've realized how incredibly important it is to see as much of this world as you can while you are able. I've learned a lot more than I'm sure I am aware of by going to these places, meeting and talking with people, going to restaurants and bars, seeing "the sights" (even when there isn't much to see), and getting an overall feeling for what life is like in these different areas. It's pretty easy to stay in your comfort bubble around your hometown, or wherever you establish yourself, and keep life to a short list of locations and situations that you deal with on the day-to-day level. But I'm growing more and more fond of the idea of living in multiple places for several years -- a year in New York, a year in Boston, a year in Chicago, a year in Austin, a year in Minneapolis, a year in Seattle, a year in Denver, a year in London, a year in Barcelona, a year in Paris, a year in Berlin... you get the idea. It sounds easier said than done, and that's probably very true, but there's so much life experience to be gained by doing this, even if the list ends up being a bit smaller.

I guess you could say that I have been bitten by the travelling bug, and now it's hard to imagine staying in one place right now. Actually... that's not right. It's too easy to imagine staying in one place, and I don't want to be that complacent. I find that if I don't give myself a kick in the ass every couple years, I start to develop too much of a routine -- I get lazy, get bored, and start to lose sight of all the amazing things that happen and can happen to us in life.

I'm very fortunate to be able to do a lot of traveling as a musician, and I look forward to broadening the scope of my travels as my musical journey sees fit, but the quick visits that these gigs allow still leave me with the romantic notion of living there for a bit. Guess I've got some work to do if I'm going to make that happen... sounds like fun.