Most writers today transition from columnizing to blogging to (retch)… micro-blogging. Yes, the ultimate insult for those of us who mock attention-span-challenged Americans: Twitter. For six-plus months, I too have been part of the problem and wasted a solid chunk of my life tweeting. Now stop, reach out and grab that breath of relieved air you just exhaled. I’m not going anywhere. ODN_Editor will continue to sound off on Rob Drieslein’s pet peeves – Bud Selig, free-ranging domestic cats, Nick Punto, public subsidies for sports stadiums, anti-hunters, insurance scams, and agricultural subsidies, among other teeth-grinding inequities of this modern world.
As 2009 progressed, you perhaps noticed my tweets becoming angrier. An unhealthy edge and bluntness has developed. Zero patience for lazy cat owners. Suggesting that Bud Selig is ordering MLB umpires to throw playoff games for the Yankees. Bashing poor Zigi Wolf for merely suggesting that Minnesota taxpayers build him a billion-dollar stadium for his NFL franchise. Demanding that a starting shortstop bat above .200. Insisting that more Americans pay attention to the splendid-little wars that a tiny percentage of citizens and their families shoulder on their behalf. Surely someone this callous and unforgiving must have issues!
My wife has a term for this Nasty Rob, this evil Skippy twin. She calls it being “intense.” Many of you might recognize that this is a common synonym for “asshole.”
In all seriousness, dear reader(s), my wife-in-a-million thinks she knows the cause of these burgeoning symptoms. This proud Gen-Xer faces the Big 4-0 in 2010, and he’s not happy about it. No need to waste oxygen by debating “What’s the alternative?” or suggesting, “It’s just a number.” Here’s the straight scoop folks: It sucks. Turning 40 sucks. My life is at least, half over, and I have no clue where it went. A Harley won’t help my attitude… though a 2011 Mustang (400hp engines in the GT) might. But those run $32K, and Annette wants a different house. What a terrible gut-wrenching dilemma of a life, eh?
OK, this is all coming from a guy who recognizes that he’s damn lucky. He’s spent those 40 years living in one of the most prosperous countries in the world, getting a mind-stimulating education, enjoying a respectable career, and – the past decade – raising a healthy family with a beautiful, loving woman. With Thanksgiving looming in a week, I have a lot to be thankful for, especially this: That gem of a woman also has a cure for said pathetic middle-aged crisis.
Go away.
No, not go away as in “Don’t come back, ever.” (I kill me!) Go away as in “Take a vacation.” Of course, the very suggestion brought to mind balding baby-booming New Yorkers on a cattle drive. (Thank god she didn’t say, “Go find your smile.”) My black-and-white, no-shades-of-gray logical initial response was: “Absolutely not. Respectable fathers don’t shirk familial responsibilities to relax.” But she kept pressing, got my mom on her side, too. Then, while sitting in a deer stand last weekend waiting for a monster whitetail to never arrive, a tiny urge from my youthful past ignited in the deepest recesses of my brain.
I always wanted to ride the rails in Europe. You know, Eurail pass with a The North Face backpack skipping from continental city to city, sacking out in hostels while living off old-world bread, hard cheese, and brutally red wine. Working my way through college 18 years ago, I never had the time or money to scratch that Eurailing itch. My wife and I have been to Europe for three short trips since we married and even rode the train between Dublin and Belfast for a few hours. But there’s a lot of Europe remaining for me to see, and thanks to a boatload of frequent-flyer miles and more vacation hours these days, I have the time and financial wherewithal to see them. But no way would Annette let this happen, right?
“Go!” she barked at the mere suggestion. “Go in the spring before the boys are out of school and while we're keeping busy with kid-baseball at night.”
“But…”
“Go!”
A balding middle-aged editor tripping around Europe like a 23-year-old sounds every bit as pathetic as Daniel Stern on a faux cattle drive. But hey, it’s cheaper and safer than driving a Harley, and I’ll meet more interesting people in Prague than at Sturgis. This week, I decided. I’m going to do this. I’m going take advantage of my health, use a couple of weeks of vacation in May 2010, and explore across the pond.
This blog (and accompanying Twitter handle, IntenseTraveler) will explain the challenges in planning such a trip, and then share my experience on the tracks of The Continent. If anyone has any tips or ideas, I welcome them. God willing, I’ll come home a less-intense traveler. At the very least, it will keep my mind occupied while I eclipse a major milestone marker in my life. Thanks for reading: This might just be fun.
