I'm a newbie to blogging, so, here I am trying to find my legs.
First- "My Cousin in Provence", aka Kevin, me and my wife Sandy. We will be posting regularly as we travel and sometimes live on the Cote d' Azur- and when not doing that, our posts will be mined from 15 years of European travel.
In my first two posts I want to explore what makes a person thirst for travel, me in particular. Second, I would like to offer our philosophy of travel and how our life is richer because of it.

"Bit By The Bug"

As a son of '58 life was radio, b&w tv (3 channels), landlines and books. Internet?What? Imagination was my companion. Fueled by the likes of National Geographic and "Lowell Thomas Remembers", hours of my young mind were filled with travel dreams.
My Father, now gone, was a Navy Man in the 50's and criss-crossed the Mediterranean many times. His tales of far-off places, often repeated (tell me again daddy) were a staple of countless evenings. Marseille, Nice, Genoa, Trieste, Rome, Istanbul, Tripoli, Algiers. I could see these places in my mind as he told them over and over again. The 2CV taxi in Marseille, he and his buddy had to get out and push up the hill, 'cause it just couldn't go. The spice market in Istanbul, monkeys of Gibralter, walking down the "can-o-beer". I wanted to be in those places, know about those people, and what it was like to live there?

Soon after, I would meet my "Travel Muse". She a teacher, mine, 5th grade, was unlike anyone I've ever known. Classically trained in Greek and Latin Literature- she traveled extensively each Summer. When she arrived, she had already "been". She new the history, art, myth and culture of a place. It was alive for her. And each Fall for nearly 10 years I sought her sage and would find myself lost in her Summers adventure. For her- these were not just places- but people, events, the interconnectedness of everything. The mental images she could conjure-so real! She was Francis Mayes, Peter Mayle and MFK Fisher- I didn't yet know them.
And I was hooked!! I vowed I too would learn to see beyond the place- seek the richness of experience- and most of all, travel at every opportunity. Life sometimes has it's way with you- it took me 15 years to begin- but since- it has been and is the sweetest 15 year work in progress.

Cousin