April makes me think of Chaucer and the Canterbury Tales, which I taught to seniors for too many years to count. Chaucer says April and spring make people want to travel, go on a pilgrimage. In England, April is still cooler than it is here in Florida, but the daffodils are blooming, sheep are running in the meadow, and the light rains are falling. You'd have to be hard of heart not to feel the pulse of life and hope of newness. It is easy to see how Chaucer's pilgrims wanted a trip after being cooped up in dark houses all winter. Spring, makes me want to travel too. April really is a great travel month, in spite of T.S. Eliot who said it "is the cruelest month." Perhaps Eliot needed to get outside a bit more.
This April, I'd like to travel in England again, or maybe Brugges in Belgium. Perhaps a warmer climate would be fun, Jamaica or other places in the Caribbean. I'm lucky to have visited all of the above. This summer, I'm going to Greece. I'm really excited about that--except for the 10 hour flight.
Chaucer's travelers went only 55 miles from London and they walked or rode horseback, yet they felt they had really been someplace. It was the journey itself and the other travelers that interested them. I think flying anywhere for 10 hours would have spoiled their journey. The stops together at inns, telling stories, interacting with each other created their fun and their memories.
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