A Short Break

I travel for all of the same reasons I drink: to get away; to relax; to visit new cultures and learn more about them; to create new experiences; to meet people and understand how they live; to have fun. Travel and booze (and food) go hand in hand. You’re waiting at the airport; why not have a drink? You’re on the plane; why not have another one? You’ve landed and arrived at your hotel; time to hit the bar! You’re making dinner plans; let’s check the wine list. Drinking in foreign destinations is more anthropological than it is alcoholic in my opinion (unless you spend all that canteen time staring at your iPhone). You learn about about local customs, preferences, habits, styles, and nuances when you sit at the bar. You can watch the bartender work and see what people there are ordering, what they’re wearing, and hear what they’re talking about. You won’t learn anything nearly that humanistic in the souvenir shop or at the hotel lobby Starbucks. To me, wine is travel. Drinking on the road is education. My life at this point is a tapestry made up of those memories—the more I travel, the more I drink, the more I know who I am. Or maybe, who I want to be.

See you all in a bit.

-David Driscoll