Maia's (Mis)adventures

First impressions... I debark from the plane straight onto the tarmac and squeeze into the shuttles awaiting our arrival. No one bothers to announce where they are headed, but it seems the only choice, so I flatten my body into the minimal available space just as the doors slide close, and grin as I recall why I truly love traveling. You have to just. let. go. I grin to myself as young, eager travelers push right up against me until they can snake their way forward in line. As a trio of feisty old women hustle me aside and confuse the sleepy counter boy by rapid firing their breakfast orders in three different languages. As the immigration officer threatens to arrest me if I overstay my visa, but breaks into a grin when I tease back instead of shrinking. I grin as I resist the strong temptations of my stomach, overjoyed at the sight of the food behind the glass. It's easy to get trapped in your world, your way of life, and find yourself believing it's the only way, but two...

I had a boyfriend once who told me he felt I would never truly be his. At the time of the comment, we had been together nearly two years and I was immediately defensive, as well as confused. I had already given him so much time...what more did he expect now for me to prove myself? But he continued talking... "You belong to the road," he told me. "Your soul can't be still, and you are therefore unable to be claimed by any man or woman. I can never compete with the whims of your desire, so you'll never truly be mine." I stayed defensive...hurt even...angry. I wanted to argue with him. Tell him he was wrong, he was being silly... Ask him not to play these games with me, where he says something bad and I'm supposed to jump at the chance to deny it, to console him...but I couldn't deny this one...not if I wished to stay honest. When I say I was angry, it wasn't at him. All he had done was put into words what I had suspected in myself for years....