Wanderlust in Quicksand

In Quicksand, it seems like Helga always wants to be somewhere different than where she is. This is a feeling I can relate to, although for very different reasons than Helga. Helga is often unhappy, and thinks that by relocating herself her problems will automatically be left in the place she just left. She learns of course that this is not usually the case. Her problems are not a product necessarily of the location in which she resides, but instead a result of forces of discontent inside of herself.

I on the other hand, love to travel. I'm not talking in the normal way either. Most people like to go on vacations to new places where they can relax and see new things. This is only partially why I love to travel. For some reason, I inherently relish the "traveling" part of it too. Not just the being there, but the getting there and getting back too. Generally people don't like going to the airport or riding on trains and really just want to arrive at their destination. I personally enjoy that transit, and the more modes of transportation the better. I compare and contrast subway and bus systems every time I'm in a new city.

For example last spring break I told my parents I planned on going to take a bus to the Cities, walk to the Megabus stop, then get a ride to Madison where they could pick me up. This wasn't good enough for me though, so instead I bought a new overnight bus ticket, got a ride to the airport with a friend, hung out at the airport because I had some time to kill before my 10:30pm departure, took the light rail to the Mall of America to get some dinner, took the light rail to the Megabus stop, overnighted from Minneapolis to Chicago, then took a train to as close to home as I could and had my friend pick me up. It was a lot of traveling from 4:00 PM to 9:30 AM but I loved the whole thing.

I think for me traveling really comes down to the adventure of it. When you travel there's a lot that one can't control. If a plane is late you can't do much about it but make the best of it. And in accepting this vulnerability to the forces at work there is a freedom. This may be why I like to travel alone though too. For a college visit 2 years ago I flew out to Philadelphia by myself and then took a train to meet my cousin, with whom I would stay for the night. I realized early on in that excursion that I was completely in control of what I could do in that no one could tell me what train to take or which route to walk, and at the same time I was completely vulnerable to the systems of transportation I was utilizing. And since then I've had this uncontrollable urge to buy a bus or train ticket on a whim to a city where I may or may not know anyone solely for the thrill of traveling.