The Murky Traveler

Do you ever like to toss your travel plans out the window and wing it on vacation? I call this the Murky Traveler. He or she is different than the Quirky Traveler who has a plan though unconventional. The Murky Traveler simply gets up in the morning and answers the siren call of adventure. No fear. Just fun.

I did this once in France and it just about drove my wife crazy. WRAL Television News was covering a new daily the non stop American Airlines route from RDU to Paris. I was given the “tough” assignment of reporting on Triangle area French teachers who were awarded free trips to Paris by Capitol Broadcasting Company. After the news assignment Cindy and I took off for a week of vacation in France. I thought it would be fun to just rent a car and “see what happens.”

The first afternoon and evening triggered much stress in the countryside. Inn after inn after inn we checked were all booked. Finally we scored a room late at night in a small farming town. The French eat late so we were fed a scrumptious meal with a great bottle of local wine. Our room was simple but comfortable. We woke up to songbirds and a big breakfast. Life was good again. Cindy, however, insisted that we take a few hours and plan the rest of our week and make the necessary reservations to eliminate the uncertainty and raw nerves of the previous day.